A Picture of Sarah
by TweetyBirdAlpha
Summary: Jareth, the Goblin King, finally tracks Sarah down after two years on the run. Now, in order to rescue her family and friends, she must risk everything she is and might be in a battle of whits and creativity. It's back to the Labyrinth for one last show!
1. Prologue

**A Picture of Sarah**

_Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great — You have no power over me.  
_

**Prologue**

Carefully a furry hand reached down into the hidden pouch. The paw brushed the edge of a small glossy piece of paper then quickly withdrew. Sir Didymus was glad the picture was undamaged by his recent quick yet fierce battle with the Fire Gang. He triumphed, as he always did, by his sheer skill in battle. Only one creature had ever bested him and Sir Ludo was now a very dear friend. If only Sir Ludo were here now, he might not be so very afraid. Or so weary. His poor hind legs were killing him. But he had promised and Sir Didymus always kept his oaths.

The Bog of Eternal Stench was not far ahead now, just on the other side of this large hill. If only he had his faithful steed to carry him onward but Ambrosius had been taken by the Goblin King not long after Lady Sarah escaped. He hoped the poor beast was alright. He topped the ridge and tasted the perfume scented air that had once been his home. He never did understand why all those who passed through had complained of a horrible stench. But to him the air was a sweet and wonderful.

It was getting to be what counted as night Underground and his keen warrior eyes could just make out Hoggles Castle ahead, the two stories of stone and towers poked out of the tree-lined Bog. The Goblin King had been very serious about making Hoggle Prince of the Land of Stench. He lived far better than most of those Underground, having a few hundred goblins who had been unlucky enough to fall into the Bog to boss around. Not that that stopped Hoggle from complaining, he always found something to grumble about. Sir Didymus had long ago determined that he liked it that way and was not happy unless he could complain. And do so loudly.

With a sigh, Sir Didymus resigned himself to the gripes Prince Hoggle would come up with this time. Hopefully Hoggle would be too happy to complain too much. After all, he was bringing him a gift today. Hoggle loved gifts of all kinds and since this one came from Lady Sarah herself, he would treasure it all the more. It was his pleasure to bring it to him. If only he didn't have to _hand_ deliver it as requested.

He knocked on the ornate door shaped like a long pointed goblin nose and entered when told to.

"Hoggle, my dear friend," he said closing the door behind him, "I have a lovely gift for you!"

"And what might that be," a cold yet musical voice before his eyes even had a chance to adjust to the brightness.

With a start, Sir Didymus squinted and bowed low, his tail almost perfectly perpendicular to the floor, "Your Majesty!"

The Goblin King, lounging across Hoggles small throne, examined him silently. Was it just his imagination or did those cold eyes linger momentarily on the secret pocket? Sir Didymus wondered if the King knew what he was bringing. Hoggle was cowering behind his throne, looking terrified, his fancy clothes seemingly in tatters. He shook his hand ever so slightly, Sir Didymus understood it to mean be careful but he didn't know why. This was the King after all. He waited politely for the King to speak.

Finally the Goblin King raised his chin and spoke, "Well Sir Didymus what is this marvelous gift you have brought for Prince Humperdink?"

"Hoggle," Hoggle mumbled quietly, earning him a long look from the King. He cowered back even further and didn't say another word.

He could not let the King have Sarah's gift, it was for Hoggle. And he had sworn to deliver it only to him. But to lie to the King? Maybe he could bend the truth ever so slightly. Puffing out his chest importantly he said, "Why friendship of course, what greater gift could there be?"

The Goblin King smirked, "Ah yes. Friendship. I had forgotten how close you two are. Always have been." He watched Sir Didymus squirm in discomfort for a few seconds then continued, "But then that wouldn't be the complete truth, would it?" He stood, "But I tire of these games Sir Didymus, I have allowed them to go on for far too long." He held out his hand, "Give it to me."

Sir Didymus stepped back slightly, "And what might that be Your Majesty?"

The Kings eyes flashed in anger and the smirk disappeared, "I thought I made it clear that I was through playing games. I know she summoned you and I know you returned with something to deliver to our resident coward here. You will give it to me or I will remind you of the lessons you were taught after the first incident six years ago."

Sir Didymus flinched unconsciously but was determined not to break his word. _Now give this only to Hoggle_, the kind voice said in his head, _we had it made especially for him_. It was his honor on the line and not even the King was going to stop him. He bowed low again, "I am sorry your Majesty but I cannot she bade me to hand deliver it to Hoggle."

The smirk reappeared and the Goblin King moved aside, "Then by all means."

Sir Didymus bowed again, "Thank you Your Majesty." He approached Hoggle who was frantically shaking his head. Sir Didymus wondered why he was doing this, "Why are you shaking your head in such a fashion Hoggle? It will not harm you."

"Don't give it to me you idiot of a dog," Hoggle whispered.

Sir Didymus still did not understand, "But I was made to swear that I would. I must."

"Can't you see what he's doing," Hoggle continued insistently.

"Oh calm down old boy," Sir Didymus said reaching into the pocket and drawing forth the paper, "With compliments from Lady Sarah." He held it out for Hoggle to take but Hoggle was staring at the King behind him.

The King motioned, "Go one _Prince_ Hoggle and take it unless you want to find out what it takes to be the eternal King of the Land of Stench?"

Gulping Hoggle quickly grabbed the gift and scanned it. It was a picture, just a simple picture. But it was a picture of Sarah. She was still as beautiful now at the age of twenty two as she had been at sixteen the last time he'd seen her. And sitting beside her on a park bench in front of ocean like waves, was her ever faithful friend Ludo, now in disguise as a simple dog. A big dog but a harmless one to untrained eyes.

"Give it to me." Hoggle looked up to see the Goblin King standing in front of him, sharp eyes offering no mercy for defiance. Hoggle held it out and the Goblin King snatched it, eyes combing the small picture. The smirk grew, "You've finally given yourself away Sarah dear. Hiding from me all these years, always escaping just when I began to move, it was all very clever of you but with this one picture, I know just where to find you. And I don't forget." He remembered the two others in the room and his grin turned shark like, "Or forgive."

* * *

*AN* Well, we're about to start out on a strange and interesting journey together. This is just a prologue of what's to come.

Read and Review if you feel like it. Or don't. I'm open.


	2. Chapter 1: Sea breezes

Chapter 1- Sea breezes

Sarah sighed happily. These balmy sea breezes were doing wonders for her mood. "Great choice Ludo. This is much better than the Rocky mountains."

Their months in the Rocky Mountains had been one disaster after another. From the rockslide Ludo had accidently triggered by singing to the rocks, to the flood after heavy rainfall where Ludo had tried to hide under the cabins beds. Ludo really did not like rain. But he seemed to like the ocean.

They were sitting almost in the waves, Ludo looking like a dog to all passerby's. The illusion was a simple magic bought from the wiseman and his talking bird-hat. To Sarah's eyes he still looked like the big, lovable giant she had known for years. Her toes dug deeper into the sand that became mud when a tiny wave washed over them. It tickled and she laughed.

The ocean was beautiful. Seagulls squawked from the sky while children splashed not far from shore. There were sailboats and cruise liners on the horizon and girls in bikinis tanning on floats just beyond where the children played. Guys in swim trunks would swim out underwater and tip these girls every once in a while so whenever she heard a loud shriek followed by a furious tongue lashing, she grinned. Nearby, families with small children built sandcastles with sea shell windows. One particularly ornate one had three stories and at least seven tall towers. A child joyfully pointed out all the features of his small mud hill to his mother. His mother ooed appropriately.

Family.

With a sad grimace, she re-read the postcard her parents had sent her. They were enjoying their vacation from the humdrum life of the suburbs in Disney World. She wished with everything she had that she could be there with them. She didn't say so out loud of course, she'd long ago discovered that wishing was dangerous business. Toby had sent an attached letter with more details. Her little brother was now a curious, headstrong seven year old. His letter, written in careful code, explained that the goblins were still following them. Only three instead of the usual ten but they weren't even trying to hide. Normal people couldn't see them, only those who had been Underground could. He begged her to be careful and to let her know if she ever needed his help, he would instantly be there. Sarah smiled, her baby brother was all grown up. The one person in her family who knew about the Labyrinth. Not that she ever told even him what the Goblin King put her through. She didn't want him to worry about her more than he already did. She didn't want to make him suffer any more than she already had.

"Sarawh." Sarah looked up from the letter. Ludo was dripping wet but he was wearing a pleased grin on his floppy face.

"Ready to go Ludo?"

Ludo nodded, water flying from his fur. Sarah covered the letters and shot a glare at him.

But Ludo just looked so happy that she couldn't help but laugh, "All right, let's go."

Ludo took her hand, engulfing it in his own, and they walked together down the beach to their hotel, a bright sun setting behind them.

"Ah, Miss Willard. Did you enjoy the beach," the hotel clerk asked with the slightly ragged smile that everyone had after working long shifts fixed on her face.

Sarah nodded, acknowledging the falsified name she'd checked in under, "It was beautiful. What's the weather supposed to be like tomorrow?"

The clerk typed a few keys and consulted the screen, "Sunny with no cloud cover."

"Perfect. Any suggestions for a place to picnic?"

"You could try the park on East 5th, it's mostly deserted but has a beautiful view of the cliffs." Sarah yawned, "If you'd print off the directions, I'd appreciate it. Good night."

"Good night Miss Willard."

Up in her room, Sarah opened the window and Ludo climbed in, "Too high."

Sarah smiled, "I'm sorry Ludo, I'll see if we can move to a lower floor tomorrow. Hungry?"

"Yes."

Sarah shifted through the piled remains of previous days meals and found that they had nothing left. "Of course." She sighed, gathered up her purse and put her shoes back on, "Well, I'll go grab us some grub." Ludo stood to come with her but Sarah waved him back, "Oh no. You have to dry off in the bathroom, I don't want this room smelling like wet….whatever you are. I'll just be a few minutes and there's a store right down the street."

"Sarwh safe," he asked in his thick voice.

Sarah nodded, "I'm sure we're safe here, the Goblin King couldn't have found us."

"Colorado?"

That was true, they still weren't sure how the goblins found them in Colorado but they must have done something to give themselves away. They were very careful this time, having their mail shipped through four different places. They would send the mail they'd received today to the next place tomorrow, to throw the trackers off even more. Even her family and Toby didn't know where they really were. She hadn't seen them since she decided she was putting her loved ones at risk by staying with them. Over a two and a half years ago. She had told her parents that she had to go find herself. Her parents hadn't liked the idea of her leaving and touring the continent but she was old enough to do as she pleased and they trusted her and, after a few words of caution, had given their blessing. Only Toby knew the truth about why she could never directly contact them. It felt strange to her that she could trust her seven year old brother more than her parents. But that's how just her life was now.

They lived off money from odd jobs she got a some of their stops. A waitressing job in Calgary, a check-out girl in Dallas, a Liberian in Santa Barbra. She worked long hours in case they had to lay low for a few months. Plus she liked working, it took her mind off certain things. She tried to spend the money sparingly but they needed to eat and Ludo ate a lot.

"Don't worry Ludo, I'll be right back," she said walking out the door.

Ludo waited till the door closed then climbed back out the window. He was not going to lose his friend and while she would be mad at him for not listening to her, it was worth the risk to protect her. She was his best friend.

The nighttime air had a bite now, it wasn't cold but she wore a thin jacket anyway. She wasn't scared of the dark, not much scared her anymore. When the Goblin King found them one of his first acts, his calling card almost, was to make her have horrible nightmare after horrible nightmare. Ludo often had to wake her up because she couldn't escape on her own. These were usually followed by goblins attacking at night or, more than once, the terrifying creatures that haunted the nightmares he created, coming to life and coming after her. He had grown more ruthless, more cruel, the Goblin King, she never thought of his name as it seemed to draw him like a signal, who had been pursuing her since she escaped from his Labyrinth six years ago. Some people might had been flattered by the constant attention but not Sarah, she always remembered the way he toyed with her, trying to trick her, hurting her for his own twisted pleasure. He was a monster in a man's body and she wanted nothing to do with him.

He'd only physically appeared to her once since she left the Labyrinth. On her eighteenth birthday she'd spotted him watching her from the rooftop of her house, grinning that manic smile. She remembered staring back at him, unable to move out of fear. Suddenly things had slid into place, tree branches falling and barely missing her, floors caving in for no reason, boyfriends turning up with scars and saying they wanted nothing to do with her. Until that day, she'd thought she was through with him but she'd realized he was simply toying with her again. Giving her a false sense of security but there, now, he was laying it all out on the table. By appearing in plain sight, he was saying that he was through playing. He was coming again. Her brother had seen him too and had started crying. It was this sound that shook her out of her fear. Her brother. Her dear brother who she'd been through hell to rescue. And here was the creature responsible lounging insolently on her roof. Taunting her, making her brother cry! Well she would have none of that. She'd taken the heaviest object around, a diary from her aunt, and thrown it at him. He seemed surprised, one of the few times she'd gotten to see that look on his face, and had vanished. Her family thought she was crazy but they couldn't see him, only she and Toby could.

It was soon after that she started seeing The Goblin Kings goblins following them around. She'd told Toby about what happened and he, with his childlike trust of all things big sister said, believed her. She told him to be very careful about what he wished. She'd invented the code they now used to communicate, careful to leave nothing behind that would let the goblins crack it. She'd also started planning her escape. Her family was in danger as long as she was around. What right did she have to put them there? A year and a half later, after graduating from high school and working enough to have start up money and with only a weeks warning, she was gone with little more than a note to her parents and a separate note for Toby. _Watch over them_, she'd written him, _protect them. I'm sorry for what I did Toby, if I could take it all back I would. I'm so sorry Be safe. I love you_.

Not that The Goblin King took the hint. He spoke to her as an owl or as an hawk, always birds. He begged her, threatened her, even _flirted_ with her. It was always the same; come back, I need you, I love you. She doubted he knew what love really was. She'd asked him that once. Obsession had been his answer. In his mind you what you were obsessed with, what you couldn't live without, you loved. She'd felt sorry for him then and had told him so. He'd pretended be upset and in a moment of weakness, in a moment of pity, she'd let down her guard. She had only Ludo to thank that the goblins the Goblin King had conjured out of thin air to try and force her to Underground had failed. She lost all pity for the Goblin King then, he didn't love her, he wanted to own her. The Goblin King couldn't love, he could only possess.

The store had very few of the foods Ludo liked so her burden was relatively light when she left. Just a microwave dinner for her and three pounds of raw hamburger meat for Ludo. She would have to cook it of course but the hotel room came with a tiny kitchen that would work perfectly. She could still smell the salt on the wind, like the ocean was right next to her. Maybe they would stay here for longer than usual. It was crowded and so presumably it was difficult to find one person among millions. And it was beautiful.

"You're not very good at hiding are you, dear Sarah?"

Sarah stopped cold, she knew that voice. She hated that voice. He couldn't be. He couldn't have. How? She couldn't make herself turn around and face him, "What do you want?"

"Do you really have to ask that anymore?"

She didn't but she was still trying to figure out how he found them.

"Wondering how I found you?"

She stiffened, he wasn't a mind reader as far as she knew.

"Well turn around and I'll show you."

"No," if she turned around and he was holding one of his magic crystals, she would be trapped in it until she could escape, "Just tell me. I won't be drawn into one of your illusions again."

"They are far from simple illusions Sarah. But you really must see what I'm holding, I promise it is no trick either." Reluctantly Sarah turned.

The Goblin King hadn't changed in the years since he disappeared from her roof. He was still tall and annoyingly good looking. If he was anyone but him, Sarah would have found him downright sexy. His fashion sense was the same, old fashioned shirt, long, ornate cape, almost impossible hair and….tight pants. He still towered over her even though she had grown taller. But what caught her eye was the picture. The picture she'd given to Sir Didymus to give to Hoggle. How had he gotten that?

"What did you do to them," she demanded.

"They're still alive. I'm going to offer one more time..."

"And I'm going to refuse yet again," Sarah interrupted, not even letting him finish with the familiar litany.

He eyed her then the corner of his mouth slid up, "Still the same strong willed girl. But if you weren't, I would have no reason to love you."

She snorted, he knew what she thought of his definition of 'love'. She thought of something, something he'd told her one time, "How did you get to this world. You can't get to the surface unless someone summons you."

He eyed her, amused, "Did you think you were the only person who ever summoned the Goblin King? I am summoned all the time. Little boys wishing they could play the hero, they are given the opportunity but none make it past the outer wall. They're still too stubborn and proud to ask for help or directions. Siblings wanting more of their parents attention, wishing away the competition. A few beg to get them back but none make it to the city, still to blind to see those who will help them but need to be helped first."

He leaned closer, "Girls who wish their baby brothers away so they don't have the responsibility of taking care of them once a week. They never make it to my castle, still too convinced the world is set against them to consider their own follies and correct them. Every time I am summoned, I make a bit of a pit stop before I head home. Tonight an banker wished away his boss so that he could take his place. He will find that the company will go broke over night since the boss was the only one who knew the clients numbers and accounts. And here I am."

"Yeah, here you are, you found me _again_. I refused you _again_. Now what? Are you going to call your goblin army _again_? Summon your magic crystals _again_? Call some demon from Hell to attack me _again_? You've done it all Goblin King, I've seen it all. There's nothing you can do to surprise me. You've gotten old," Sarah said, crossing her arms. She was regretting telling Ludo to stay in the hotel room. She wouldn't be able to outrun the Goblin King.

The Goblin King frowned and his eyes went from amused to annoyed, "I have warned you before. Do not make me angry."

Sarah felt the anger she had kept bottled up explode, "Make you angry? Make you angry! You've been chasing after me for over two years, you've been making my life difficult for six years. I've wasted two and a half years of my life running from you because you cause destruction and pain every time you show up. You've threatened me and my family. You've scarred me emotionally! Don't make _you_ angry, don't make _me laugh_." Sarah felt a little better being able to get that out of her system. It had been there for awhile.

The Goblin Kings eyes flashed in anger but quickly settled back into the amused yet condescending look he'd worn in the Labyrinth, "Say my name. I've noticed how you've avoided it. Calling me Goblin King or you. You might as well say it, you're not escaping this time."

"No."

He stepped towards her, reaching out, when he was tackled by a large furry figure.

"Ludo," Sarah yelled.

Ludo took the Goblin King and held him up by his ankles, "Gobwin King not hurt Sarwah."

The Goblin King, instead of being scared, laughed, "Always have someone to protect you, don't you?" He waved his hand and a crystal globe grew to engulf Ludo completely, compressing back into its original small size. As the glob floated off on the wind, Sarah ran after it, "Ludo, Ludo!" The globe disappeared and Sarah stopped, staring into empty space.

Sarah whirled on the Goblin King, "Give him back!"

"No."

Sarah's mouth dropped open, stunned by the directness of that word, "What?"

"I said no, I won't give him back. And I won't give the rest of your family and friends back either."

"Liar, you don't have them," Sarah said, arms crossed.

"I would not lie."

Sarah raised an eyebrow in disbelief and the Goblin King shrugged, "Fine, I would lie but I'm not lying now."

"You can't take people to your realm unless someone wishes for it or they're from there in the first place." Sarah had done some research while on the run, she knew a lot more about the Goblin Kings power than she had six years ago.

The Goblin King nodded, "True but if I, say, had made a deal with one of those who regretted wishing away their best friend. She wished your family into my realm and her friend would be released from my realm. Of course she wasn't expecting her friend to be about a foot tall and not remember her but that's part of the price for getting back. Magic is not picky and if you know how to manipulate it, you can get anything done. So, now I have your little brother back, we have some catching up to do; your mother, your father, they will be quite shocked to learn what you did; honor bound Sir Didymus; the traitorous goblin Haggle and now the mutt monster Ludo. All trapped Underground."

His grin widened again and his eyebrows rose questioningly, "Whatever should we do about it?"

Sarah felt her heart beating faster, the same feeling of being trapped that she had in the Labyrinth rushing back. He was going to make her go back to the Labyrinth. Run that terrifying maze again. In her worst nightmares this is what happened. She would have to go back and fight. Again. She hesitated but the Goblin King waited, demanding an answer to the unasked question. Would she risk herself again to get back everyone she loved?

Of course she would.

* * *

*AN*

Oh yeah, now we're getting somewhere! Whoo!

And thus did plot begins. Though it must first wander through many caverns and caves and fight off many dinosaurs, this plot will eventually find an ending. This I swear!

Hey, if you decide to brighten my day, Read and Review. I want honest opinions here, loved it, tell me, hated it, let me know! Or don't. I'm open. Either way…smile and have a nice day!


	3. Chapter 2: Terms

Chapter 2 - Terms

"You'll have double the usual thirteen hours to finds them all; both your parents, the mutt, Toby, Hobbit and Sir Didymus. They could be anywhere in the Labyrinth but you have to find them all and make it to my castle at the center in twenty six hours or I get you. Forever. Trapped Underground and never able to return to the surface unless _I_ let you. However, should you actually find them all and make it to my castle within the time limit, you will of course go free."

They were standing on the same monument covered hill, looking out at seemingly the same Labyrinth, stretching out for miles on all sides. The sky, a light pink with a few clouds struggling across it, as if they too didn't want to be here. The same castle was just visible in the distance, marking the center of the giant maze. A clock with thirteen hours was floating in the air, just like last time. It seemed as if she was the only thing different, the only thing not the same; well, she was very different. She didn't whine, didn't complain, she was stronger in who she was. She knew she had to put herself at risk in order to get her friends and family back. She'd also noticed how he hadn't promised to let anyone but her go free. Already he was trying to trick her, "Ok but if, no _when,_ I succeed, you have to set us _all_ free including all my friends here, they come with us and you can't force them back."

"Very well."

"Not only that I want you to leave me alone. Forever. No more of these games, no more kidnappings. You have to stay down here, alone, and rot." Sarah emphasized the last word as hard as she could.

"See, that's a problem," The Goblin King said, starting to stroll leisurely around Sarah. Sarah turned to keep him in front of her, not trusting him out of her sights. "I have one wager against your one but with you adding another, I think I should get to as well."

Sarah didn't like where this was going. She hesitated but she really, really, wanted him to leave her alone after this was over. "Fine, what are you adding?"

"If you lose, not only do I get you, I also get everyone else I've taken," the Goblin King said, wearing that always superior smile.

Sarah had no right to wager their lives but she had the feeling he was planning on keeping them if she lost anyways. He was just toying with her again, adding to the pressure she already felt. Trying to make her buckle under the weight. Well, she could be tricky too. "Ok then, I have one more stipulation, I want Hoggle to help me from the start."

"Well, that's quite the demand. Why should I let the number you have to find drop? It just doesn't sound as much fun."

Seething, he did think of this as just a game!, Sarah practically growled, "Because if you do, you can add one more thing to the wager."

The Goblin King rubbed his chin, staring at the ground, "I might be able to think of something." He looked at her through his eyelashes without raising his head, "I want control over your memories."

Sarah's breath caught, "But…but I am who I am because of what I've been through. If you change my past… I won't be me." She hated how _anxious_ that sounded

"Ah but you still don't quite understand that that's not how my magic works," the Goblin King smirked and stood up straight, hands on hips, "It's true I have no interest in you if you weren't the strong willed, stubborn, yet brilliant girl you are today but my magic leaves no traces of itself if I wish it. No, you'll find yourself suddenly remembering that everyone on the surface hated you, you'll subconsciously make excuses that keep all the major decisions the same that got you here, keep you who you are, but little by little you'll find yourself," an eyebrow arched, "…grateful for me having trapped you down here."

Sarah felt her face pale. She'd lose her memories, not remember why she'd fought him in the first place? Forget her family, her friends? Actually accept her imprisonment? They were terrifying thoughts. She really didn't need Hoggle to help her…but he did know the Labyrinth better than anyone else. And having his help would make her chances of success skyrocket. Plus, having someone there … not facing it all alone… she needed someone else with her. She'd become too used to being able to cry on Ludo's shoulder and having those comforting arms hold her up when she wanted to collapse. Hoggle wouldn't be as reassuring but she thought she could count on him to at least keep her on track. "Fine," she said quickly, trying not to think too hard about the other side, if she really did lose.

"Then we have come to an accord," the Goblin King said reaching out his hand for her to shake it which she did reluctantly, mentally reviewing what all was at stake now. Everything, in short. The Goblin King turned and looked at the clock, "Oh dear, you seem to only have twenty five hours and fifty minutes left." He started to disappear with that infuriating grin, "Better hurry."

She had been tricked, ten whole minutes gone! She kicked a rock in the direction the Goblin King had been standing, "Cheater."

"Well now, I see you've gotten yourself in trouble yet again," a familiar grumbling voice said. Sarah turned to find Hoggle, arms crossed, glaring at her.

"Hoggle," she said throwing herself at him. She hadn't seen him since the Goblin King started trying to block her friends from coming to her world when she called. It slowly become more and more dangerous to even try until only Sir Didymus had the courage to try anymore. Ambrosius was taken from him because of it.

Hoggle stepped back, arms raised to stop her, "Oh no, I remember the last time you kissed me. Jareth has gotten nastier about people even looking at you, much less actually touching you. No, it'll be better if we just nod, smile, and get going." He consulted the clock still floating six feet above the ground, completely oblivious to the anxiety it was causing. "Not much time at all considering we'll have to scour basically every stone in the entire the Labyrinth. Knowing him, he'll hide them behind the stones. No, he'll hide the stones behind other stones and then bury them under the Bog."

"But that's ok Hoggle, you know the way through the Labyrinth. You know where he's more likely to think we won't look," Sarah said, trying to stop a complaining fit before it started.

Hoggle shook his head, "No, I don't. The King's changed the Labyrinth many times since then. The only place I really know is the Bog of Eternal Stench. Which he made me prince of thanks to you and your inability to keep your distance."

Sarah frowned, well that plan had gone bust in record time. Of course! Sarah imagined the tunnel leading out of this place lengthening considerably, the light at the end becoming weaker. Was it just her or did the sky actually dim as well?

Interrupting her disheartened thoughts, Hoggle sighed, "Well, let's get going then."

He waddled off towards the newer Labyrinth as Sarah scanned it quickly, shoving aside her doubts, concentrating on what needed to be done right now. This was not going to be easy but then it hadn't been the first either and she'd still won. Defeated the Goblin King at his own game. Here she was, playing again with people she loved at stake. But he was going to make it a lot more difficult this time. He was not going to be, what had he said all those years ago, _generous_. Well, she could play at that game too. With determined steps she started after Hoggle, she was not going lose.

_Please dear God_, a part of her whispered, hiding deep beyond the walls of subconscious where self doubt and fear still reigned, _please_ _don't let me lose._

* * *

*AN*

And we are now, finally, in that dreaded of all mazes, the Labyrinth. Beware, dear readers, for what follows is a tale of adventure and fantasy. And people refusing to get Hoggle's name right. Are you up to the challenge?

Read and Review. Or not. I'm open. Either way… !

Also, don't you hate it when the plot velociraptors start chasing you at 3 in the morning? I do because they can open the dang doors! There's no escape! Ahhhhhh!


	4. Chapter 3: Getting in is Simple

Chapter 3 - Getting in is Simple

"How are we supposed to get in?"

Hoggle shrugged, "I told you he changed the layout. I haven't been back out here in a long time."

In front of them, blocking their way, was the ancient sandstone wall that surrounded the actual Labyrinth. It wasn't a good start. Not five minutes in and they were in already trouble, trapped outside the maze with no visible way in. Last time there was a gate, hidden in plain sight until you had the humility to ask; but this time, only a blank, endless, wall and no one to ask. Even the faeries were gone.

A wind kicked up and blew the dust into Sarah's eyes. Sarah growled, rubbing the dirt out, "I do not have time for this, I barely made it last time!" She took a deep breath to calm down, anger would get her nowhere. Yet. She opened her eyes and glanced around, looking at every detail she could, "Last time, it was all about thinking outside the box. Nothing is as it seems."

"And how is that helpful," Hoggle growled. Already Sarah had noticed how much Hoggle had changed. He talked less than he used to, that's not to say that he still didn't complain, but his sentences and words were slower. He just seemed… older. His shoulders hunched over a little more, his skin drooped around his cheeks and his hair was noticeably thinner. She'd never imagined time passing for her friends here, they always seemed to stay the same, immortal for all time, but the four years since she'd last seen him had not been kind. She felt guilt bubble in her stomach. How did you apologize for so many years of misery?

Sarah didn't answer Hoggle's question, trying to take her mind of her guilt. Instead she took a step forward and put a hand on the wall. She pushed, just barely, and the entire wall collapsed inward with a loud crash. Sarah laughed and punched the air, "Ha, take that Goblin King!"

"Why do you call him that," asked Hoggle, digging a tiny rock out of his shoe and tossing it over the fallen wall, "You know his real name."

"I don't want to know his name, Hoggle. I don't want anything to do with him. If I refuse to use his name, maybe he'll get it through that thick skull of his that I just want to be left alone."

Hoggle shook his head, "I doubt that, the King can be very, very persistent."

"Don't I know it."

"I guess you do missy. Well, the first walls down, let's keep going. Time runs faster than we can."

"Hoggle."

Hoggle stopped and turned to face Sarah, she had a faint smile on her face. "What?"

"Thank you." The smile was warm but unsure, a feeling echoed in her eyes.

"For what?"

"For still helping me, for still being my friend despite what you've been put through on my account."

Hoggle blushed as a long absent, warm, feeling began to sprout again, and looked away, grumbling, "Don't get all mushy on me. I ain't doin' it just for you...I expect to get something back!" He wasn't sure how long he'd been willing to hold the grudge he'd built up over the years but he felt it melt a little. Just a little.

Now Sarah grinned fondly, "Of course, I wouldn't expect it any other way." She stepped over the collapsed wall and into the Labyrinth itself. Hoggle followed, keeping close, feeling pleased at Sarah's admission. Friend, he'd always liked that word when she said it.

____

"I wonder if the same worm is here," Sarah pondered out loud, scanning the stone walls that looked the same no matter how she looked at them. They still sparkled like someone had dumped a dump truck full of the shinny stuff on them. Maybe they had, it sounded like something _he_ would do.

Hoggle told her he doubted it, "Many of the non-goblin creatures who once lived here were taken away. I hear Jareth keeps them under his castle in dungeons. Says he can't trust 'em anymore."

Sarah kicked a small branch across the ground and out of her way, "Was it because of me?"

"Well, yeah! The King did not take your rejection lightly," Hoggle complained without thinking. When he saw the look on her face he quickly regretted it and tried to smooth it over, "But don't worry, I'm sure that we can save them as well."

Sarah smirked, "He did agree to set all my friends free and _they_ are my friends as well."

Hoggle chuckled, "I'm don't think he'll like that at all."

"I sure hope not," she said with feeling.

As they were walking and talking about Hoggle's time as Prince of the Land of Stench, with Sarah getting an aside glare every few words, their faces hit something rock-hard.

"Ow!" Sarah pressed her hand against her nose and looked ahead, it looked like it was open in front of them but when she touched it, it was solid. A dead end, cunningly concealed as an open space. No amount of pushing could move this one.

"Looks like we have to turn back," Hoggle said as Sarah stood back up.

"I hate dead ends," Sarah paused and stared up at the top of the wall, "I wonder what would happen if we just climbed to the top and ran on top of the wall all the way to the City?"

"Don't know but I doubt it would be that easy."

"Probably not but it's a thought if we get stuck for too long." They started going back the way they came when they heard a shout that quickly turned into a scream. Sarah's gasped, "Oh God, Mom!" She sprinted in the direction of the voice.

Hoggle waddled after her, "Wait! Wait!"

____

Sarah ran but she kept hitting dead end after dead end, the straight walls were long behind. There were so many junctions now that Sarah could hardly go around one before another forced her to make a choice. Some of them, instead of the normal two ways, branched off into six or seven directions. All of them somehow facing the Goblin Kings castle.

And those horrible screams kept coming, ringing loudly in her ears. Disturbed and upset, Sarah waited for Hoggle to catch up which took a few minutes.

Painting, he stumbled around a corner, "Done running in circles are you?! You lapped me six times!" He collapsed in a heap, "I'm getting tired of all this already. These legs weren't meant to run!"

Sarah apologized, a little amused, when she realized that the screams had stopped. She listened hard but there was nothing but silence. "What happened to my mother?"

Hoggle stopped wheezing long enough to chew her out, "Have you forgotten everything that happened last time?!" He took a deep breath, the shaking stopped, and continued, "These are the new versions of False Alarms, they know, somehow, the voices of people you care about and make you think they're in pain. Now with another brand new feature; these ones can move around on the walls so you can never actually catch up or find them. You'll end up chasing 'em around forever. But, once you stop, they stop too and the instant you start moving again, they start wailing. I told you he'd gotten nastier."

Sarah had to agree that this was a new low for the Goblin King. Experimenting, she took a step forward, the heart wrenching sound continued as long as she moved. How would she know if it's her mother screaming and not one of these False Alarms? Or any of her family and friends? Hoggle was still gasping for air on the ground, he really had grown plumper since she'd last seen him. She couldn't wait on him to recover, it might take the entire time they had left. "Here," she said squatting down.

He eyed her in confusion, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Climb on my back and I'll carry you until you catch your breath."

He protested of course, insisting he only needed a few more minutes and really didn't want to be crowned King of the Bog, but Sarah was unrelenting and he eventually caved. Carefully he clambered onto her back, clasping hands around her throat and she stood.

She pretended to stumble under his weight, "Gained a few pounds?"

Hoggle harrumphed, "Three. Don't you have a deadline to miss?"

Sarah tried to frown at him but her head didn't turn that way so she began to walk again, "I wonder how much time we have left?"

____

Toby watched his sister continue to wander, lost, through the Labyrinth carrying the little goblin he assumed was Hoggle. They hadn't gotten very far but lucky, they hadn't wasted much time either. Before she left, Sarah had warned him this might happen but neither of them had thought their parents would be kidnapped too. She'd recounted their adventures in Jareth's 'care', cautioning him to always keep his guard up and use his head. She'd thought she was keeping them safe by leaving them to flee around the country but somehow, Jareth had caught up with her. He remembered what happened when he was brought here. When the bright, happy world of Disney World had disappeared around them and Jareth, the Goblin King from his nightmares, appeared. He wished his parents were still here.

*earlier*

"You have no power over me," Toby said, positioning himself between the frighteningly tall King and his parents.

The King smiled and Toby felt a flash of recognition, "Little Jareth! How good to see you again! And these must be the parents, I have to say you have some marvelous kids here."

Toby didn't understand, Sarah said that phrase would work. He tried again in case he hadn't been heard, "You have no power over me! Over us!"

Jareth laughed and knelt down so his face was even with Toby's. Toby was afraid but didn't move, he would protect his parents. "I so do have power over you. You _and_ your parents. Through a deal I made with a desperate little girl on the surface, you three have been wished away to my realm. Welcome back."

Toby felt himself being pulled back and was surprised to find his mother regarding the Goblin King with a displeased expression, "You will let us go now! You have no right to keep us here."

The King stood and smirked, "Now I can see where dear Sarah got her fondness for saying things like that. It's a family thing. How… annoying."

Toby's father stepped closer, "What have you done with our daughter?"

The King shrugged, "Nothing. Yet. But I have plans in the works to fix that." He grinned, "See, that is why you three are here. You are the bait to draw her here. To make her play my little game by my rules." He locked Toby in his eyes, "And this time, _none_ of you will get away."

*now*

Toby shivered, remembering the cold determination in those very bright eyes. His sister was in danger again. He could tell the Goblin King was not going to play by the rules this time. Even if she actually reached the castle, Jareth would trick her into losing. And now his parents were gone too. Trapped out in the maze with her. With a yell, he rattled the bars to the cage, he had to help them!

"Frustrated, little Jareth?"

Toby saw the Goblin King appear through what had been a wall, "My name is Toby!"

"Of course it is. Now. But later, who can say." The King threw himself across a chair that also appeared out of nowhere, "Enjoying the show?"

"No."

"Don't worry, it'll get better the closer she gets. I have some creative surprises waiting her down the road."

"You're pathetic," Toby said mustering all the disgust he felt.

"And your seven," Jareth replied as if the comment hadn't phased him. He glanced over at the cage, "Once I own you, would you like to be taller?" Toby turned away and sat down, he would not play these games. Let the Goblin King amuse himself with them, he had to think of a way to escape so he took to examining the cage for any flaw. When Toby turned back around out of concern for his sister, Jareth was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

*AN*

Not a bad start I think, fat goblins and long laid schemes.

I'm trying to be very consistent with my update schedule but I really don't want to put these up until they're as close to perfect as I can get them. But since I have a multitude of tinkering issues, a word here, an entire storyline there, the color of the sky, you can see how this would be a problem. So I apologize in advance if I slip a little along the way.

Hey, wanna hear a secret? If the sun hits your keyboard just right, the keys automatically Read and Review. It's magic! Or not. Either way… !


	5. Chapter 4: Explanations

Chapter 4 - Explanations

"Are you feeling better yet," Sarah asked for the fifth time over the last few minutes.

"Nope, feet still hurt," Hoggle mumbled from behind her head.

Sarah sighed, it was her own fault for forgetting that most of the time Hoggle would do the absolute minimal required. The screams had stopped awhile ago, they were beyond that section of the Labyrinth now and they still hadn't found anyone or anything. How were they supposed to find five people and a dog in this giant place? The endless turns were gone, replaced with a series of infinite doors. Some doors didn't open, others only opened to show another wall, others still opened into pure blackness. They didn't go in there. It was very possible that only one door led to the next section of the Labyrinth. One door out of thousands. Pretty straight forward compared to what they usually had to do. Sarah could think of no way to think outside the box on this one.

And Hoggle wasn't helping much, he had practically given up and was trying to tell her how to deal with all the different kinds of goblins after time ran out and she lost. His one sided, very negative, conversation was making her all the more anxious, "Hoggle?"

"Yeah."

"Shut up please. Can you think of anything to help besides recommending which goblin chief to use at the Goblin Kings Castle?"

"Sorry, just trying to make conversation."

"Well anything would be better than you being so sure I'm going to lose."

"But you are going to lose," a haughty, confident voice said.

Sarah stopped and winced, she had hoped he wouldn't show up to taunt her but she should have known better. She slowly turned around and there was the Goblin King, leaning arrogantly against one of the doors. Sarah considered walking away without acknowledging him at all but last time she'd tried to act tough, her and Hoggle were chased by the Cleaner. She didn't really want to repeat that experience.

"Feeling lost," the Goblin King asked, a gleam of mischief in his eyes. Without warning he waved his hand, something small and glittering started to form.

Sarah quickly turned her head before she could get drawn into the globe, "I'm not falling for that, Goblin King! You might as well stop trying. I'm not even going to _eat_ anything in this place." She remembered all too well the time she was trapped in one of his globes turned peach. That memory still brought a blush to her cheeks. It had been a very beautiful dress and she had almost not wanted to escape. Only the realization that the dream people were laughing at her weakness had riled her anger enough to break through the glass and escape.

"Ah Sarah, will you never trust me?"

"No."

"Very wise."

"He put it away," Hoggle whispered in her ear. Sarah looked back cautiously. She didn't know what he wanted and was simply willing to wait until he told her.

After a few seconds of quiet the Goblin King smirked, "Silence won't get you anywhere, but this will. Here," he tossed something at her and she caught it without thinking.

Warily she examined it, "What is it?"

"It's a compass. Obviously. I got bored of you just _hitting_ my dead ends, this will make things more entertaining." He pointed at his castle, "My palace is at the center, as always. Walk due north and you'll find Sir Didymus. Your father is straight East, your mother South and giant mutt is in the western section, somewhere."

"Where's Toby?"

"Don't worry, I'm taking good care of him. He just has such great memories of my palace last time."

"If you hurt him…"

"I have no intention of hurting him."

"Then let him go."

The Goblin King leaned in with that ever present smug smile, "Not. Just. Yet."

This infuriated Sarah so much, she felt like she should stick her tongue out at him. Just barely, she stopped herself because she wasn't a little girl anymore and she could do better than that. She stared down the Goblin King, forcing all her anger and stubbornness into her gaze, refusing to look away, refusing to back down.

They stayed this way for at least a full minute. Neither willing to lose even this small contest of wills.

Finally he blinked and leaned away. "Well now," he whispered almost to himself. With a slight bow he disappeared again, leaving Hoggle and Sarah with even less time to find those who had been taken.

_____

"Looks like we'll have to go backwards," Sarah said, consulting the compass. "We're too far north, Irene is south of us."

"At least we know where to look now," Hoggle muttered. He had decided to walk now, a fact for which Sarah was extremely grateful. "That was oddly…helpful of Jareth, giving us the compass and telling us where they all were. You'd think he _wants_ us wanderin' around aimlessly, wastes more time that way. I think he's up to something. Should we even trust what his says, maybe throw it away?"

Sarah wasn't sure. Yes, it came from the Goblin King but they did need it and, looking it over, it didn't seem to be a trap, just a normal compass. Sure, the four cardinal points were roses instead of arrows, the case what seemed be pure gold and she couldn't be sure but it seemed to her that there were rubies and emeralds on opposing ends of the pointer, but beyond the extravagance it seemed to function like a normal compass, rubies pointing north and emeralds pointing south. A question entered her head to wonder how a compass could even work in a world where the Goblin Kings castle was always in front of her but she decided it would hurt her head to think about it and let it go. It was most likely some kind of magic anyways. "No," she said finally, "We'll keep it for now. But if anything funny happens with it, we throw it away. Quickly."

Hoggle grunted, "All right, it's your funeral."

"Are you sure those screams weren't really my mother," Sarah asked as they started back the way they came.

"Well I thought I was but now, not so sure anymore."

_____

Sarah's stepmother, Irene, had always known her stepdaughter resented her for trying to take her real mothers place. Early on, when she first married Sarah's father, Sarah had refused to even talk to her. She seemed to be hating the world that had taken her mother from her. Poor little girl had simply refused to believe that her mother had left her for a strange man from lands unheard of. A change happened when baby Toby was born, she decided that her stepmother was like the evil ones out of her fairy tales and treated her accordingly. She went from silence to the other extreme. She yelled and screamed, she moaned and complained, all the time acting the part of captive princess. And though her stepdaughters dramatic drama queen tendencies, her stepmother knew this was part of her grieving process and that if she waited, hopefully, Sarah would work through her feelings and, even more hopefully, come to accept her into her life. She tried not to interfere in her affairs beyond a few nudges and the odd hint about how such extreme fantasy notions were not conducive to a growing girl. It had taken awhile but Sarah eventually lived up to her expectations. One evening after another fight over babysitting Toby, Sarah had come down the stairs and actually hugged her. Wordlessly she'd hugged her back, tiny tears of joy leaking through. They still battled, of course, but Sarah was much more likely to accept her opinions. Before Sarah left for parts unknown two years ago, they'd established a sort of stabilized turmoil, hard reality versus moderate imagination, with each other.

And now, after events she still didn't understand, something to do with Sarah again, she was being held prisoner by small…somethings, in pointed hats that carried around poles with other mutated, baby looking things on them. She had tried to reason with them but they spoke no recognizable language and any attempt at conversation resulted in the thing-in-hats charging her with the things-on-sticks. So she sat quietly in the corner of the dank room, trying to understand what was going on, who that tall man in the castle had been, and what Sarah had to do with it all.

Just as Irene was convincing herself that this was just some bizarre nightmare, a loud noise shook the door. The things-in-hats all stopped their strange chattering. They grabbed the things-on-sticks and started towards the door when the it slammed open. A very ugly gnome looking creature, really the only thing he was missing was the pointed hat!, stood in the doorway, framed by the light behind him and wearing a face that was not pleased, "Release the prisoner."

One of the things-in-hats jabbered something and the gnome frowned, "Do you want me to release the Wall Frog on you?" The things in hats chattered some more between each other and then addressed the gnome.

The gnome scowled, "Ok, then what do you want?"

One of the monsters gibbered something, gesturing around himself, the others clamoring in agreement. The gnome nodded, "Done. Now let her go."

The monster with the biggest hat approached her and gestured that she should follow the gnome. She did so happily, whoever this gnome was, he had to be better than the frightening things she had just left behind.

"Where are we going," Irene asked the gnome at the same time noticing the dent in the door as they passed through it Apparently the gnome had tried to kick the door down before he tried the handle. They quickly walked away from the hole and the door and the things. Now that she was closer she could tell that the gnome was not as terrifying as she had first assumed but she still didn't feel comfortable in his strange presence.

"We need to get far away quickly. The Carnagons are very superstitious. They live in constant fear of something called the Wall Frog. It doesn't exist but they don't know that. They run amuck in the Labyrinth, torturing others for information about the Wall Frog and how to kill it. They're harmless, stupid even, as long you stay away from those poles of theirs and know where they like to ambush. _I'm_ not even afraid of them. But I might have just promised to bring them another human to replace you and since I have no intention of doing that, we should probably hurry along. Apparently you keep their place smelling nice."

Irene shook her head, becoming more and more confused, "You didn't answer my question though, where are we going?"

"To Sarah."

"Sarah! What does she have to do with _you_?"

The gnome eyed her, "I don't know what she did or didn't tell you about the last time she escaped from the Labyrinth but.."

"Last time," she interrupted, her face paling quickly, "what last time?"

The Gnome sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. He hated having to be the one to explain things, "It all started about six years ago..."

_____

Sarah waited, tried to wait, patiently but this situation made her nervous. Time seemed to crawl as she waited. Hoggle had been so sure he would be able to retrieve her mother without her help or, as he had put it, sticking your head where it'll only cause trouble, but she still worried. What if they needed her help? But as she saw two figures slip around a corner, her dread vanished and she smiled, "Hoggle? Irene?" Hoggle ambled over followed closely by her mother who was looking both confused and annoyed. Not a good mix.

When they got close enough Irene fixed her with _the look_, "This gnome told me everything Sarah. You haven't been soul searching, you've been running! From some kind of…..goblin! And Toby! You wished away your brother, how could you? Why didn't you tell us, your father and I trusted you!"

"Irene," Sarah started, trying to explain. She'd known this moment was coming and had what she considered the perfect speech prepared to calm her mother's wrath. "I know…"

"No," her mother interrupted, "I don't want to hear it. You should have told us Sarah, you have put your little brother in serious danger!"

"Would you have believed me," Sarah asked, angry now. "You used to laugh me when I told Toby bed time stories. You would tell me to drop all these fanciful notions and get a handle on real life. You refused to come see me in plays because you thought they were giving me ideas! Would you have believed me if I told you I was being chased by a creature from Underground because I once defeated him? Yes, I wished Toby away, but I instantly regretted it. I risked everything to get him back and now I'm doing it again to save you and dad. I didn't even start it this time! I ran away to protect you guys and you're going to lecture me now that I'm trying to fix it and save everyone?"

Irene opened and closed her mouth in shock but she wasn't going to let her stepdaughter get away with talking to her like this. "Sarah…," she started warningly.

But Sarah wasn't listening, she turned and pulled out her compass, "I don't have time for this Irene. I still have to save dad, Sir Didymus, Ludo and Toby _and_ make it to the center of this maze. If you're coming, follow."

Hoggle mumbled, "I'm not a gnome," then followed Sarah leaving a very confused Irene to follow quietly, still not able to come to terms with the fact that her ever daydreamy stepdaughter actually had grown up and she hadn't even realized it, hadn't been a part of it. When had this happened?

* * *

*AN*

Family drama! Everyone do a quick emotions check! ….you good? …ok then, moving on!

Ancient stories tell of a dark and horrible place hidden in the mists of the highest mountains, buried beneath the seas of clouds. In such a world where chaos and anarchy reign, people do not……………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………..Read and Review! *Gasp!* *Gasp?* *Gasp.* *gasp*

Or not. I'm open. Either way….:-)!


	6. Chapter 5: Old Friends and New Plans

Chapter 5 – Old Friends and New Plans

She'd actually yelled at her mother! Sarah's heart skipped as she remembered the way her mother's eyes had contracted. She'd been afraid of her stepdaughter. She shouldn't have yelled but it had felt so good to get that frustration out in the open. But she shouldn't have yelled, her mother really hadn't deserved that.

"Irene," Sarah said, stopping just a few feet ahead of her.

"Yes," her mother said also stopping.

Sarah took a deep breath and swallowed her pride, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled."

Irene sniffed, "No, you shouldn't have." Sarah stiffened but Irene continued, "But you were right. I wasn't very supportive of you when I should have been, I was too busy trying to be the strict mother I thought you needed that I forgot that to a teenage girl, especially one as imaginative as you, just being there for you is more important." She met her stepdaughters eyes, "I'm sorry Sarah."

She stumbled back as Sarah threw herself at her, enclosing her in a tight hug, "I'm sorry too… Mom. I wasn't the easiest person to get along with but I'm just glad you stuck around."

Irene snorted, "I think your father has more to do with that than you did."

Sarah laughed as she let her step mother go, their relationship was back to normal again.

Hoggle watched the proceedings with a mixture of disgust and annoyance, why did these humans have to have emotional breakdowns every three minutes? He coughed loudly, "I'm sure you've forgotten again but we still have more people to look for!"

Sarah blushed and nodded, "Just keep reminding me of that Hoggle and we'll find them all yet."

_____

"Not this again! I thought you said he'd changed the Labyrinth, Hoggle."

"I didn't say he changed everything! It's probably not the exact same as last time so be careful."

They were standing before the familiar shapes of the two headed door guardians the pair who, by their own admittance, one told only lies while the other told only truths. Although, Sarah thought, what if it had been the lying one who told them that? Well she knew better this time, the blue colored one was the wrong one. Unless the Goblin King changed that knowing she would remember which one she'd fallen through. And unless she'd gone through the right one last time and it only appeared as if it was the wrong way. She shook her head in confusion, this was not helping. "Any ideas Irene?"

Her mother shook her head, "I'm still not convinced this is not a dream."

"If this was a dream what would you do," Sarah asked, grasping for any way to think outside the box and solve this quickly.

"Me? Well, I would simply ignore what they say and pick one. I could waste as much time as I wanted trying to figure out which was which or I could simply pick one and deal with what was behind it."

Sarah stared at her mother in shock, that was actually a good idea. A creative solution from Miss Anti-Imagination herself!

"You know you could ask us," the bottom half of the red door guardian said, poking his head out from beneath the shared shield.

"You were no help last time," Sarah replied.

"Well that's because you didn't ask the right question," the bottom blue head said.

"I like Irene's idea of just walking through," Hoggle said. Head games were never his strong point and had always found that luck, while not his best friend, was friendlier than logic.

Sarah's mother glanced at the gnome who used her first name so causally but didn't say anything, "Well, which one?"

"Do you have a coin Irene," Sarah asked.

Irene dug around in her pockets until she came up with a single penny, "Here."

Sarah took the penny and flipped it in the air, "Heads red, Tails blue." They all watched as it fell back to the ground, and was instantly swallowed by a randomly appearing hole. They stared as the hole resealed itself. "What was that," Sarah asked, shocked and annoyed.

Hoggle muttered that they were cursed while Irene just laughed. Sarah turned her attention from the ground to her stepmother. Had she lost her mind? "What are you laughing about?!"

"It's just so funny! I mean, we don't know how to solve these doors and when we try dumb luck, the ground opens up and swallows it. Don't tell me that wasn't orchestrated."

Sarah frowned, "You're right. That does seem very convenient, it appears the Goblin King will not allow us to pass through without _making_ a decision. Fine." She walked towards the same blue door she had tried last time, "We're going this way."

_____

Lying at the bottom of the same hole in the ground, the same oubliette, Sarah sighed, "Yet again, I pick wrong." There had been no helping hands to slow her fall this time. She rolled her shoulder around, that impact had really hurt.

Her mother was slowly getting to her feet and brushing off the dirt, "Well at least we're past that obstacle and can move on." She looked around the hole, "Now how do we get out of here?"

Hoggle, ahead of them for once, was already shifting around the clutter on the floor and pulling the door off the ground, "This way please." He fitted the door snugly into the corresponding crevice in the wall and opened it. They couldn't see what was beyond it, it was completely black. Hoggle stuck his head through but quickly withdrew it, "It's cold in there!" He shut the door and opened it from the other side. But the door opened to the same cold blackness. Hoggle seemed surprised, "It ain't supposed to work that way. These doors open to at least four different places." He closed the door again and opened it from the bottom, flipping the door towards the ceiling, but they only found the dark. Muttering he backed up to Sarah, "We have no choice this time."

"That seems to be the theme," Sarah growled. She hated it that the Goblin King kept trying to force her places. Made her want to find a completely different way to go out of stubbornness. But like Hoggle had said, right now there was only one way.

Irene stuck her hand through the hole, "It is cold but not unbearably so. But we can't see where we're going. Is there a candle or something in here?"

Sarah and Hoggle searched the rubble but only came up with a single candle, already lit and hanging from the wall. Hoggle chimed it, "I don't like the cold either. Just sayin'." When Sarah tried to go through the door first, he sprinted in front of her, "You ain't going first!"

Sarah stared, "Why?"

Hoggle kicked the dirt, muttering under his breath, "If something happens to you, I won't get paid!" He went through the doorway first followed by Irene and Sarah, who was more than a little surprised. Had Hoggle just done something brave?

_____

They walked and they walked. And they walked. And they walked. And they walked. And they walked. And they walked. They walked but didn't seem to get any further from the door. No matter how long they kept going forward, the door remained the same ten feet behind them, like it was following them. The only point of reference in an otherwise black void.

"This is pointless," Hoggle mumbled, "We should go back."

"I thought you said the only way forward was to never go back Hoggle," Sarah said with a slight smile.

"Wasn't me and different context."

Irene stepped up beside Sarah and pointed to something, "What's that?"

Sarah squinted and looked around. She only saw the darkness, "What?"

"That," her mother said pointing more emphatically, "How can you not see that?"

Sarah looked as hard as she could, "I don't see anything Irene. Are you sure you didn't hit your head when we fell?"

Her mother turned to the gnome, "Do you see it Harriet?"

"Hoggle. And no, I don't see it neither," he said, crossing his arms. Here was yet another person who could never seem to get his name right. Maybe he should change it. Something starting with R. Like Rifftlaf.

Irene grabbed her stepdaughters hand and started pulling her towards the door, "We have to get out of here, it's getting closer!"

Sarah jerked her hand away, "There's nothing there Irene!"

Her stepmother nearly screamed with frustration, "Trust me, please! There is something there and it does not look friendly! Now run!"

Now very convinced that there really was something out there, Sarah turned and started to run when she heard a familiar voice. "Sarwh?"

Sarah stopped and looked around, "Ludo?"

Hoggle also was scanning the dark trying to find the source of the voice, "Am I blind or have I gone crazy?"

"Sarwh, Ludo here!"

"Ludo," Sarah said, "I can hear you but I can't see you. Where are you?"

Irene nearly screamed as the monster she saw put a hand on her daughter, "Get off her!"

But Sarah felt the hand and smiled, "Ludo." She was quickly taken up into a familiar, comforting hug she couldn't see but she knew it was her friend. She hugged him back. After a few seconds she was set back down and turned to her panicking mother, "Irene, calm down. This is Ludo, he's my best friend. And he's kind of been living with us as the dog Ludo for the past few years."

To her mother's everlasting credit, she merely nodded after a seconds thought. She getting better at accepting the strange, "Then how can I see him and you can't?"

"Ludo lost," a thick voice said from right beside Sarah.

"What do you mean Ludo?"

"Ludo lost, can't find self."

"I think the beast means, he lost himself. It can happen if one of us is trapped in the dark for too long although that don't explain why Irene can see him and we can't," Hoggle explained.

"Ludo, what did you lose?"

"Ludo lose body. Not sure what to look like."

Hoggle was quiet and appeared to be thinking hard, he grinned smugly at Sarah, "I figured it out. And you're supposed to be the smart one."

"Please enlighten us Hoggle," Sarah said with more than a little impatience.

"Your mother can see him because she's never really seen him. We have a fixed idea, a preconception, about what he should like but she doesn't. Since he doesn't know what he is, neither do we."

"But Irene does?"

"Yup."

"Then how do we fix him?"

Hoggle turned to her mother, "What does he look like?"

Irene blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"What does the giant beast in front of you look like? Describe him to us so we can know too. Ludo included."

"Well, he's about seven feet tall and furry."

Sarah watched as the patch of darkness next to her started to shimmer. "And…."

"He has big, pointed ears and a big mouth with fangs and kind of dark, orange, fur. His arms are long and also furry but his hands are not."

The patched shimmered even more and Sarah was able to make out more features, "Keep going!"

"I don't know what else there is to say. He has eight fingers and eight toes. The fur on top of his head kind of reminds me of cabbage."

"Just a little more!"

"He has a small tail! That's all there is too him!"

Sarah smiled as her friend finally materialized beside her, "Ludo!"

Ludo wrapped her in his arms again, "Sarwah!"

_____

Ludo led them to the way out, he'd know how to get out but had been too afraid to do so while he was lost to himself. When they came out, they were surprised to find themselves a quarter of the way around the Labyrinth in the western section.

"That saved us some time," Sarah said taking in the view. The castle was still in front of them, of course. And there were plenty of walls. But trees and gardens randomly spotted the maze, there seemed to be a forest in the distance, and Sarah could swear she could just make out a little town. Ludo was stretching out in the sunlight, glad to be out of the endless darkness. Hoggle was standing beside her mother, both of them watching her. They were trusting her, she realized. Trusting her to get them out of this. To save them. She looked away, she didn't want to disappoint them. She also didn't want to lose since she knew losing meant becoming not much more than a slave to the Goblin King. This was a bad situation and she still had to find her father and Sir Didymus and get to the Goblin Kings castle to save Toby. And she could only guess how much time had passed. The sun had actually gone backwards in the sky so relying on that would be worse than useless. Maybe five hours? Seven?

"All right," she said jumping down from the log, "Onward and forward."

_____

Toby watched his sister escape from yet another of Jareth's traps. Jareth had been so sure she would lose to that one. Surprisingly his mother had saved the day. Without her, they would have never been able to find Ludo. Jareth had not been pleased. The unfortunate goblins who had been serving him lunch had been turned into more of the chickens that littered the palace in his wrath. Now he was pacing the room in frustration.

Toby couldn't help but look more than a little bemused, "You always think you can beat her but you will always fail."

Jareth turned his angry eyes on Toby, "Why? Why is it that I cannot defeat her, that she always out tricks me?!"

Toby was afraid of those eyes but his seven year old self was stubborn in the face of fear, "She's fighting for people she loves."

Jareth looked confused and Toby understood, "And that's what you don't understand!" Gloating he continued, "You threaten us, people she loves. She has no choice but to rise to your challenges. It's a power you can't control, can't trick, can't blind. You can't beat her because you don't understand what love is!"

Jareth was silent then sat back down in his chair, fist pressed against his chin. Toby sat back down as well, Jareth was thinking. Had he accidentally given Jareth a way to find the understanding of what kept Sarah on top? Him and his big mouth.

"I might just have to change my plans," Jareth muttered softly. He shot Toby a grimace, "Your sister has grown up more than I anticipated, I'm actually quite impressed. It appears I underestimated her again. I was planning on terrorizing her day and night if she got far enough, always a new monster around the corner, always something to slow her down until her time ran out. You know, fun little things like that. But now…I think subtly will no longer work. A more direct approach is required now." He went back to thinking but Toby just heard him whisper, "Just give up already…"

Toby watched him, feeling his concern grow. The Goblin King was planning something worse, he just knew it. Hurry, sis, he thought, just hurry. 

* * *

*AN*

Well, three down and three to go! One would think this marks the half way point in their journey. One would be wrong. Two would also be wrong. And three…three is right out!

Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon,

The little dog laughed to see such sport,

And the dish ran away to review.

*grin *

…yeah you can go ahead and throw things at me now…sorry!

Or not. I'm open. Either way…:-)!


	7. Chapter 6: The Bog

Chapter 6 – The Bog

Wall, door, courtyard, wall, door, courtyard; everything looked the same. According to Sarah's compass, they were heading north but to their eyes, they were again walking in circles. They passed the same places time after time, even when one of the stayed behind, they soon came up on them again. It defied all explanation and reason. But then what didn't in this place?

"Do you think the compass is broken," Irene asked, shaking it. She was having the hardest time with the situation, her mind still partially stuck Aboveground.

"Wouldn't surprise me if the Goblin King decided we've gotten too far and is trying to confuse us," Sarah said with a sigh. "He's the kind of person who flip flops on decisions like that."

"It's working," Hoggle growled, "It has to be because otherwise we're back to guessing again. And that didn't help us so much with the doors!"

"Ludo think we still go that way," Ludo said pointing in the same direction they'd been going.

"Thank you mutt, but we've already gone that way. We've been going that way for thirty minutes," Hoggle said throwing a rock in that direction. He glanced behind him as if he expected it to hit him the back of the head. It didn't.

"Why do you want to go that way Ludo," Sarah asked, curious.

"Ludo just know."

Hoggle cocked an eyebrow, "You just know? Well, I just _know_ your wrong!"

Sarah trusted Ludo, she'd trusted him with her life on more than one occasion. She shrugged, "Good enough for me."

Hoggle gaped at her, "What?! How is '_I just know_' a good enough reason?"

"Because it's Ludo."

Hoggle's face dropped, suddenly sad. He always felt second fiddle when Ludo was around especially since the last time he really talked to them was years ago. "If I was the one who'd said that, would you be just as trusting?"

Sarah smiled and gave him a quick hug, "Of course."

Hoggle puffed out his chest, "All right then." He started down the road practically prancing.

Sarah took Ludo's hand and followed while her mother shook her head, again shocked by the person Sarah had become under her nose. It made her sad that Sarah had had to hide herself. When they got out of this she would have to make it up to both her children, Toby most likely resented her as well. She hadn't exactly been perfect raising them but there was still time to repair that and she would take full advantage of that time. Just as soon as they escaped from this endless maze.

Hoggle stopped, "I don't like where we're headed."

Sarah looked around seeing only the same alteration of walls, doors, and the odd courtyard, "Why?"

He grimaced, "Cause I think I know where we're headed."

______

"Home sweet home Hoggle?"

Hoggle glared at Sarah, "Not really."

Sarah laughed quietly behind his back. They had reached the Bog of Eternal Stench and it was every bit as bad smelling as Sarah remembered. In fact it may have gotten worse. Drooping trees of varying rottenness and ponds, rivers and lakes of rancid smelling liquid were the only things around now. The dirt was soft beneath their feet, sometimes so soft that if they weren't careful, their feet sank into the mud and were stuck until someone else could pull them out. When Ludo was the one to get sucked down, it was a big problem, they had to construct a system of vines and overhanging trees to pull him out. That had wasted time. Everything seemed to be designed to simply waste time. It was infuriating.

"Smell bad," Ludo said, covering his nose with his hand.

"Is the way across still the same," Sarah asked Hoggle as they squelched through the mire. Surely it was, she didn't fancy trying to find a log or something to cross. For all she knew the logs would just walk away and leave her to fall in the water.

"Yeah, the bridge where we picked up Sir Didymus is still there, repaired and functional, but nobody is guarding it. Or at least they weren't when I was kidnapped. I wonder if I'm still the Prince?"

"Do you miss it?" Sarah had been wondering what kind of life Hoggle'd led here. She couldn't be sure from his complaining, he would complain on the most perfect day.

Hoggle didn't hesitated, "No way. I hate this place."

"Why not?"

"It was fake, a sham, Jareth just wanted to punish me for helping you. All I did was sit in a uncomfortable wooden chair, trying not to gag from the smell and boss a few goblins around. I would have gladly been back at the start of the Labyrinth gassing fairies but I couldn't because somebody has to keep getting into trouble."

Sarah didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth to apologize again but Hoggle just shook his head and started walking. The rest couldn't do much more than follow. Irene started a conversation with Ludo about their travels while running from the Goblin King but Sarah didn't want to listen. She caught up with Hoggle as he hopped over a small puddle of reeking water. She took his hand, trying what always worked with Ludo and Toby.

Hoggle pulled it away, looking surprised, "What's that about? I thought we agreed on no touching."

"But you let me hug you?"

Hoggle blushed, "Well that was a special occasion. I don't want any more trouble from the King."

Sarah laughed, "I think we're in as much trouble with him as we could be."

"I don't think we should push it though."

"I'm not afraid of him," Sarah insisted.

"Well I am!" Hoggle whirled on Sarah, "I realize that you have more resting on this than any of us but please don't make it any harder than it has to be by antagonizing him. You're my friend and I'm going to help you as much as I can but..." Sarah smiled and, embarrassed, Hoggle growled the rest of his rant, "but I don't want no more trouble than there has to be."

"Sorry," Sarah said softly, realizing that he was right. While she couldn't just give in, mocking the Goblin King until he retaliated would be just as stupid. That defiantly ruined some of her plans.

Hoggle muttered something under his breath and took Sarah's hand in his firm grip, "Oh, come on sad eyes, we've still got more to go."

They wound their way through the literally weeping willows, crying tears of sap and water, dodging the pools of rancid, bubbling water and moving across roots whose sole job in life was to trip them. They came over hill and noticed a small, squat castle sitting on a square of dry land in the middle of a lake. When Hoggle saw his 'palace' he quickly hid behind a tree, "Don't let them see us!"

"Why," Irene asked curiously, "couldn't you just _order_ them to help you?"

"Jareth told them to dump buckets of the Bog's water on anyone they found wandering in the swamp. That included me. I don't want to smell horrible forever!"

"I'll agree to that," Sarah said, peeking her head around the trunk of the softly weeping tree.

"Might as well give up now."

Sarah looked around for the voice and was only slightly surprised to find the tree had grown a mouth as well as eyes and was talking to her. Softly. "Why," she asked.

"The Goblin King plans on cheating you out of your victory should you come near enough. He will lure you close then strike you down," the tree said through its sobs and tears. Sarah, while believing that the Goblin King would try something like this, was less believing that a simple tree, albeit a magic, talking tree, would know about it.

"How do you know?"

"These are Wisdom Willows Sarah," Hoggle explained, slightly in awe of the tree, "They don't often talk to people but when they do it would be smart to listen. They are literal part of the Labyrinth which is a part of Jareth himself. If this tree says that is what he is planning then we can't ignore it." He leaned closer and tapped the truck of the tree, "Odd though, they usually hang out on the outside of the Bog."

Sarah was silent, thinking. The Goblin King was not above cheating, or trying to cheat. Once she'd won last time, he'd let her go. Only to try again six years later. This didn't change much about her current situation beyond that once she reached the Goblin King's palace, she would have to be even more careful. She doubted the same words would get her out of trouble this time.

She patted the tree near its face, "Thank you for telling us but I can't give up."

The tree sighed and it's face transformed to that of the Goblin King, "Have it your way."

Sarah screamed as her hand sank into the tree, the rest of her was quickly sucked in as her friends and mother yelled her name.

* * *

*AN*

*gasp!* Oh noes!

Yeah, I know today's is a little on the short side but it's mostly because I was finally able to lock the plotciraptors out. Yay for tiny victories! Either that or I'm lazy and blaming it on imaginary dinosaurs. You're right the first option is much more likely.

Read and review if you feel like it. Either way…:-)!


	8. Chapter 7: Cheating

Chapter 7 – Cheating

Tired but hopeful, Sir Didymus slowly petted his faithful steed, trying to keep him calm. Ambrosius was very sensitive to the world and right now he was very upset. Sir Didymus had often called his friend a coward and threatened him when he ran but the noble animal was in reality very reliable and brave if a bit skittish. He was thrilled to be reunited with him but the years of being kept by the King had not been kind to his charger. Ambrosius's hair was matted and dirty, his teeth rotten and eyes dull and unfocused. If Sir Didymus could find the Goblin King, he would have quite a few things to say about that! "Don't worry Ambrosius," Sir Didymus said consolingly, voice filled with enthusiasm, "Lady Sarah will rescue us from this dreary prison. I'm sure of it!"

"Well I'm not so sure."

Sir Didymus looked up and noticed someone walking towards them in the gloom and fog. He leapt to his feet, "Who is that? Be warned, I am an armed and valiant knight!"

"It's me, Sir Didymus." Sarah finally came close enough that Sir Didymus easily recognized her.

Sir Didymus gasped, "Lady Sarah! Lady Sarah, how did you get here?"

Sarah didn't answer, instead she sat on the misty ground, tucked her head between her knees and screamed.

Sir Didymus was quite startled by the sound, "Lady Sarah!"

Sarah didn't even glanced at him, keeping her head hidden so that her voice sounded muffled, "He cheated."

"Who?"

"The Goblin….oh forget it! Jareth! There, happy now? I said your name but you still freaking cheated!" She screamed again, letting out pure frustration and anger. To her surprise, Ambrosius howled along with her, blending the two mournful sounds into one. Sarah finally stopped but Ambrosius continued for a little longer. When he stopped too, he fixed Sarah with his tired, soulful eyes. Sarah smiled sadly at him, he seemed to understand.

Sir Didymus looked between them confused, "If I may ask, what is the matter with you two?!"

Sarah broke eye contact with Ambrosius but didn't meet Sir Didymus's, "...Jareth cheated."

"The Goblin King? Really?"

"Yeah."

"How did he cheat?"

"I was following our deal, I had already found my mother, Ludo and Hoggle and was about to come looking for you when I was wrongly taken away by the Goblin King disguised as a decaying old tree in the Bog of Eternal Stench. And now here I am, trapped with you. He's not even going to give me the chance to finish, he's going to keep me here until my time runs out! In short…he's cheating."

"Well, that's quite a claim."

"It's no claim," Sarah muttered, "He told me so himself before throwing me through this mirror."

"Oh, are we inside a mirror," Sir Didymus asked, completely missing the point of the comment, "Well suppose that would explain the twilight like gloom but not the fog. I wonder what's causing the fog?"

Sarah sighed again and Ambrosius licked her hand, consoling her in his own doggy way. She patted him on his head, "Thanks Ambrosius." She watched Sir Didymus poke the ground with his spear, simmering.

_______

"Put me down," Hoggle yelled but Irene wasn't listening.

"Where! Is! My! Daughter?!"

Hoggle gasped for breath, choking on a cutting retort. He couldn't breathe! Luckily Ludo was there. He grabbed Hoggle from the irate Irene's clutches and set him on the ground, "No hurt Hoggle."

Hoggle clutched his throat, of course the _mutt_ got his name right, and glared at Irene, "Have you lost your mind!?"

Irene glared at him, "Where is my daughter? What happened to her?"

"I don't know, woman! She just disappeared through that tree!" He rubbed his neck, betting he'd at least get a good bruise out of it, "That really hurt!"

"Well, what can we do about it," Irene demanded, "hurry up and think of something, we're wasting time!"

"Nothin'! We don't know where she is or what's happened to her. For all we know, she's trapped in one of Jareth's dream globes and I don't know of any way to get someone out of those," Hoggle growled, backing away from Irene in case she decided Hoggle needed another throttling.

"What are those?"

"What, dream globes?" Hoggle wondered how much to tell this woman, she didn't seem as able to cope as Sarah was. But she was Sarah's stepmother, "The Goblin King, as I told you earlier, can use magic to make of these crystal globe things. The ones he favors most traps a person in dream worlds that he creates but has some personal connection to that person. He tries to trick them into accepting that world as real. Donno why, he's just weird like that."

"And this has happened before?"

Hoggle leaned over and checked his reflection in a nearby pool of water, checking for a bruise, amazed that the woman just _didn't_ _listen_, "Yes! What were you doing when I explained this to you?"

"Well, I still thought it was a dream…"

Hoggle glared at her, "Well it's not. If anything, I would call this a nightmare."

Irene didn't say anything for a second then nodded as if she had come to a decision, "Well come on then."

She started walking away and Hoggle sputtered, "What? Where are you going?"

"_We_ are going to find my husband then rescue my daughter."

"But we don't know where she is?"

"That's not going to stop me from looking!"

"She took the compass with her."

"I'll cope."

Ludo faithfully lumbered after her and Hoggle was left alone. With a soft curse he too started that way since there was no way he was going to let Ludo take all the credit for rescuing Sarah. "But where are we going?"

"Didn't you say Robert was being held on the west side of this death trap?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Then that's where we're going!"

Hoggle shook his head, realizing that maybe Sarah wasn't as different from her step-mother as she thought she was. Wouldn't she love to hear that?

______

"They're not giving up either," The Goblin King mused aloud sounding only mildly annoyed.

"Did you really expect them to," Toby asked, not looking away from the portal that showed his mother and Sarah's two friends.

The King shrugged, leaning back in his throne and clasping his hands together, "It doesn't matter, they'll never find her. The Veiled Mirror has her and Sir Didymus. Seeing as it is nearly impossible to even think of the mirror, much less find it and also requires great deal of magic to put things in or take them out, I will win be default."

"You're cheating."

Jareth glanced at him then looked back at the portal, "I like to think of it as creative…… ok, I'm cheating. But it's perfectly within my rights, I generally only play these games to amuse myself and pass the time but this time, since Sarah is still stubbornly doing the impossible by actually finding her friends and getting by my traps, I'm simply going to take her out of play."

"So your world has no rules to stop you, nothing to make you keep your word?"

"No, there are rules." He frowned, "Unfortunately. I cannot just take Sarah…" He paused, and chuckled, "Look at me, I've gotten chatty! Suffice it to say that there are rules but I don't have to tell them to you."

Toby scowled, so close. The more he knew, the more he could help once he finally escaped this cage. "What will you do when my sister escapes that mirror?"

Jareth just laughed, "She won't!"

"But if she does?"

Jareth fixed Toby with a quick cold stare, "She will not."

"So you set her up to lose in the first place?"

"I never intended to give her a chance of winning."

"You didn't the first time either."

"I underestimated her the first time, I didn't factor in her obsession with getting you back safely. Nor how quickly she would get over her childish fancies."

"But she's changed in six years, you might be underestimating her again."

"She can change all she wants, she still will not win. I refuse to let her," Jareth replied, letting anger creep into his voice, "_That_ is all that matters here."

_______

Sarah decided that she wasn't going to take this injustice sitting down, she was going to look for a way out. And, after wandering around for awhile, they eventually found the face of the mirror. Now they were staring out of the giant watery surface, hoping, yearning, doing everything short of actually wishing, something she was very leery of, for anything to help them.

Sir Didymus sat beside her, prodding the surface with his spear, "I don't think it's solid my Lady. We might be able to just slip out."

Sara touched the barrier, it felt kind of fluid but if she pressed, it was solid. The harder she pressed, the more solid it became. "I doubt it, that would be too easy."

"Oh I didn't think it would be simple my Lady, but it was just a thought." He leapt into the air, "I have yet another! Ambrosius, come here!" Ambrosius was sniffing around the floor. He yipped and trotted over to them. "Faithful steed, true as the swiftest arrow and brilliant as the morning sun, find us the path that will lead us to safety," Sir Didymus commanded dramatically sweeping the area with his spear.

Sarah had to step back to keep from being stabbed, "Sir Didymus, I don't think Ambrosius can find a way out if we can't."

"Of course he can Lady Sarah! A dog's nose is far more powerful than ours."

Sarah started to point out that he was a dog too but stopped, confused. Was he a dog? She really didn't know what he was. Or what Ludo was. Or Hoggle. Even the Goblin King defied classification. She groaned and pressed her hands against her face, nothing here made sense! It wasn't fair! She was stuck in self pity until Ambrosius nipped at her leg and she jumped, reminding her that there were others at stake in this as well. That she was responsible for them being here in the first place.

"Ambrosius! Don't bite the Lady," Sir Didymus admonished, grabbing the dog by his saddle and pulling him back.

Sarah just laughed, "It's ok. He was just snapping me out of it." She shook her head, getting rid of all the self doubt, switching instead to trying to figure out what to do next. She looked around still seeing the same endless darkness Ludo had been lost in. Ludo had wandered around in it for hours before he found the way out even if he didn't use it. She didn't know how much time she had left. They could do that and hope there was an exit out there somewhere, or they could sit here near the known way out and hope her friends could find her. She was very tempted to just start walking again. She had never been very good at waiting and letting others do anything for her. But she could easily get lost and never find her way back. So really it came down to whether or not she trusted her friends enough to just sit here and wait. She bit her lip, thinking. They placed all their trust in her, the least she could do is return the favor every once in awhile. She sat down on what she assumed was the ground, "I think we're stuck here for awhile Sir Didymus. We'll just have to trust that our friends can get us out in time." They could to find her, her friends and her mother, they were smart and clever. They could do it without her. Hopefully.

"But My Lady, are we not under a very strict time restriction?"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, but I don't trust my sense of direction enough to just wander around again. Besides, I believe that they can find us in time."

Sir Didymus paused, unsure whether or not to voice his question, "…and if not, my Lady?"

"If not?" She closed her eyes and leaned back. She hadn't wanted to think of that. The biggest _if_ in her life. "Then don't forget me Sir Didymus. Whatever…happens, don't forget who I am, who I'm supposed to be."

Sir Didymus put a comforting paw on Sarah's shoulder, "Don't worry Lady, none of us could ever forget you. And this worrying is not necessary, our compatriots will rescue us, we shall conquer the King and we shall prevail!"

Sarah smiled a little at the unashamed confidence in his voice, "Thanks Sir Didymus." But she wasn't so sure anymore, too many things were going wrong.

* * *

*AN*

Wow, Sarah's in a bad place! Remind me to keep my wishing on stars to a minimum.

Speaking of stars…

Far across the galaxy there lies a well traveled star system whose dazzling sun is known as FTwo, or FF, but of all the meteors and debris orbiting this sun are only two planets. The large planet Read is a prosperous and wealthy world. It's bright cities and rare resources are the envy of all who pass through. Her neighboring planet, Review, however, does not have the population nor strength of Read. It's lands lay untilled, it's cities struggling to survive. But there is a faction from Read who's goal is to assist the stricken world of Review. These kind and generous people are determined to not only Read but Review as well. You too can help this movement by clicking the small button at the bottom of your screen! Limited time offer, act now!

(Ok, I have to admit, I'm actually kinda proud of that one.)

Either way…:-)!


	9. Chapter 8: Why Caterpillars Cannot be

Chapter 8- Why Caterpillars Cannot be Trusted

Irene leaned against the oddly shaped door, listening to what was being said on the other side. When she heard a familiar name mentioned, she yelled, "They're talking about Robert! Come on!" She tried to shove the door open but it was bolted and she couldn't get it open by herself.

Hoggle muttered beside her, "Told you that wouldn't work. But ya' don't want to listen to me, I'm only a mouthy gnome!"

Irene turned, hands clenched in fists on her hips, she was getting tired of this midgets constant complaining, "Then what do you suggest?"

Hoggle gestured to Ludo, "Let the mutt have a go."

Irene glanced at the creature that had previously masqueraded as her dog. It certainly looked strong enough. "Fine then." She moved aside.

Ludo lumbered to the door. "Ludo in hurry," he growled, "door in way." With a giant furry fist, Ludo punched the door, smashing it into large, jagged pieces that miraculously didn't hit anyone. They heard yelps of surprise from inside.

"Oh dear, what was that?!"

Ludo leaned in to see but found that he couldn't fit through the door. He sat down outside the door and watched silently.

Hoggle rudely brushed past Ludo. "Where is Sarah's father," he demanded but stopped short at the scene.

Irene barged in too and was just as shocked as Hoggle, "Robert?"

Robert smiled, embarrassed, "Hey Irene, sorry if I made you worry." Robert sat calmly at a heavily laden circular wooden table with a pair of super sized caterpillars as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. Although, beyond the giant caterpillars, the room was quite ordinary. The table was positioned almost perfectly in the center of a room that reminded Irene almost perfectly of her great grandmothers house, full of flowery tea cozies and hundreds of pictures of caterpillar relatives. There was even a small fireplace in the corner with an odd assortment of tea kettles on it. It had a very cozy and calm feel to it.

One of the caterpillars wearing, of all things, a long multicolored scarf, smiled happily, " 'Allo! Company! How lovely. I'll just have the misses put on another cup of tea."

The other caterpillar, possibly the misses, wearing an upside down sunflower as a hat, smiled and nodded, "It'll be just the tick of a clock." She slid away. Irene noted with disgust that she left a trail of impossibly sparkly slime behind her. Because these couldn't be _normal_ caterpillars, oh no, everything had to be different and strange.

Irene glared at her husband, "What have you been doing?! Do you know how worried I've been? I mean we were kidnapped," her voice steadily gained heat and volume, "we find out that a magical freak is after our daughter, we get separated, I was imprisoned with a group of _the_ most terrifying creatures, I lost Sarah again and you're _sitting here having tea with caterpillars_!"

Robert blushed sheepishly, "Well I've been meaning to go find you but these two are just so nice. The misses's tea and cakes are so good, I… couldn't turn them down."

The lady caterpillar returned, somehow holding a teapot and three appropriately sized tea cups, "Well I found a few more cups for the company. Husband, would you be so kind as to pull out the extra chairs for our guests?"

The husband nodded, "Of course dear."

And that's how, a few minutes later, Irene found herself drinking some of the most delicious tea she'd ever had, feeling all her cares and concerns just melt away. How relaxing. Maybe they could stay for a few minutes. Just a few.

_______

"Tell us, dears, what brings you to our lovely home?"

This question was directed to Hoggle, who was mulishly not drinking the tea, "Not saying. It's none of your business." He alternated glaring at the caterpillars and glaring at Irene and Robert.

"Oh be nice Hobert. These wonderful creatures have just extended the first actual kindness we've seen all day," Irene said, "It wouldn't kill you to be polite." She turned to the two caterpillars trying to find the one that had spoken but her eyes were losing their focus and she couldn't tell them apart anymore. _Oh well,_ she thought happily, _doesn't really matter._ "We came here after our daughter."

"Your daughter," the one now wearing the tie and jacket asked, "Who's she?"

Irene blinked, then laughed, "Ah… Sarah. Almost forgot her name." She giggled, "Apparently the king of your land has quite the infatuation with her."

"With who," the other caterpillar, currently wearing a trippy tie-die shirt and sunglasses, asked.

Irene paused again, thinking hard, her mind slipping again and again. Who was it?

"Sarah," Hoggle growled loudly.

"Right! Sarah. I must be tired."

"Well why don't you rest," the first caterpillar asked, this one's face was now all twisted, his/her features sliding all over his/her face. His/her eyes were now on intermixed with his/her antennae. "We have just the most comfortable sofa and loungers in the back. Wouldn't be a bother at all!"

Irene's mind fumbled at the offer. Wouldn't it be so nice just to stop here? For a little longer. She was sure she had time. All the time in the world. Couldn't even remember why she was in such a hurry in the first place.

"Enough!"

Startled Irene looked at the strange gnome thing sitting beside her. "I've had enough of this," it said, "we're leaving. Now."

Yes, it was important wasn't it. Whatever she was looking for. Very important. Extremely important. She could see that the familiar man to her left was nodding slightly. Robert? They should leave, they really should leave.

The first caterpillar protested, "But I've just made a fresh pot of tea! Won't you stay for a little longer? Not long at all..."

But Irene was fighting it now. Forcing her sluggish brain to recall what was so important. It was slow going.

"No! Now, I can't stand this place anymore," Hoggle growled.

Why was Hoggle always complaining?! He'd ruined such a relaxing atmosphere. Hoggle! She stared at him, Hoggle, Sarah's friend. Sarah! She leapt to her feet, "We have to save Sarah!"

The three caterpillars were moving toward them now, "Don't leave. Stay. Forget this foolish quest. You cannot win."

Irene pulled a still drowsy Robert to his feet and shoved him towards the door. Ludo leaned in the door again when he saw Robert coming out, "Time to go?"

Irene glanced back at the slowly, very slowly, advancing quartet of caterpillars, "Yes, past time to go." They hurried away.

________

"Well that was nice," Robert said cheerily once they got far enough to feel comfortable.

Hoggle stared at him, "How can you say that? You were under their spell for the longest?"

"Spell," Robert asked, not really understanding, "What spell?"

Hoggle rubbed his hand across his face, "Is everyone in this family thick headed?" Irene sniffed and Hoggle eyed her, thinking. "Ok, here's the short, short version…you're dreaming."

"I'm dreaming? Oh, that's a relief. For a minute there I was afraid you were going to say this was all real."

Irene started to correct him when Hoggle fixed her with a glower. "Remember what it took for you to realize it wasn't a dream," he muttered low enough that only the two of them could hear, "We don't have that kind of time and I really don't like having to re-explain everything."

After a second Irene nodded, "Fine. Where too next?"

"Sarah."

"If I'm dreaming, why can't we just fly there," Robert asked, interrupting Hoggle's attempt to think of a plan.

Hoggle sighed, Sarah's family was beginning to grate on his nerves. He could only hope Toby had escaped these genetics, "Do you ever consciously control what happens in a dream?"

"Well, no."

"There you go. We have to work by the laws of this dream and the laws are, we have to walk."

"Can't we just climb over the walls?"

"No."

"Oh. Can I wake up, I don't like this dream."

"Tough."

"Ludo carry Robert," Ludo gruffed helpfully, slowing down to walk beside them.

"Ok, that'll work," Robert said happily, allowing himself to be picked up and put on Ludo's shoulders. Once up there he cupped a hand over his face and looked around as if scanning the area. He gleefully pointed out the strange features around them.

Irene sighed, rubbing her forehead with a dry hand. Sometimes her husband was a bigger child than their children had ever been. "Do we have _any_ clues as to where she might be," she asked.

Hoggle scratched the hair peeking out from underneath his cap, they really didn't know where Sarah was. But they did know where someone else was, "No but the King did say Sir Didymus was in the north."

"What does that have to do with Sarah?"

Hoggle shrugged, "Nothing. But it's the only thing we have to go on!"

Irene frowned, "I don't like that tone."

Hoggle smirked, "So sorry, don't care. Come on, we still have a ways to go." _He_ was going to be the one to rescue Sarah, _he_ would be the hero for once and _he_ would be the one getting all the hugs. Once he found Sir Didymus he would have the dog sniff her out, even with his messed up sense of smell, his nose was the sharpest thing in the Underground. Maybe if he left her family and Ludo behind he would move faster. Judging by the sun, they were running dangerously low on time. He glanced behind at them, thinking. But Sarah would be happier if they were there. What to do?

* * *

*AN*

I always thought that little caterpillar was a very devious trap to catch flies with honey and cuteness. And so here he is being sweet and creepy and not very cute.

Also the plotciraptors escaped their electrified enclosure and are now fighting the Sleep-Rex. Sleep-Rex is losing just so you know. There's just too many of them Captain!

As always feel free to drop us a line with the little review button at the bottom of the screen. Make sure to read the entire article and understand it completely. If needed you may ask questions about the text. There will be a test later that will account for 99.999% of your grade.

Or not. I'm open. Either way…:-)!

And a note to the note under the also note and beneath the begging note, I'll be out of town and into the big city for three days so if I don't answer your reviews like normal, that's why. And don't worry, the next one will be back on the regular schedule. Unless traffic sucks; or I'm tired; or 2012 happens two years too early. Anyway, we'll see!


	10. Chapter 9: How Storms are Made

Chapter 9 – How Storms Are Made

"And that's why, of all my brothers and sisters, only I left the homestead."

Sarah sighed, she loved Sir Didymus dearly but his stories were so dry. He could talk a tumbleweed into dust.

Sir Didymus looked at her expectantly, "Lady, I hesitate to ask, but might you entertain us with one of your stories? I fear I have run out of tales."

Sarah smiled and nodded, she loved telling stories. Her imagination had never been underused, even when she was on the run, her mind soared. Which one to tell though? She was about to ask if Sir Didymus had any suggestions when she heard a voice.

"Yes, let's hear a story," a completely different voice said with relish.

Sarah felt a shiver go down her spine but didn't turn around to face the owner of that voice. It's not like she didn't know who it was.

Sir Didymus bowed, "Why your majesty, what a pleasure. However, if I might have a word with you about your treatment of Ambrosius here." Ambrosius was trying to hide behind Sir Didymus. The King ignored him.

She just scowled, "Go away."

"No."

Sarah twirled around, "I am not going to tell you anything beyond, 'leave me alone you worthless, creepy freak.' "

The Goblin King's eyes flashed, "I have warned you before, do not trifle with me." A chair appeared and he sat down, leaning back. He smiled, the anger still simmering behind his eyes, "Now, how about a story?"

Sarah shook her head, he really didn't know what no meant, "_No_, I refuse."

The Goblin King waved at the air, "Ah yes, there's that defiant spirit. _I had almost forgotten what that sounded like_." That last part was said with as much sarcasm as Sarah had ever heard. He simmered for a second then nodded, "Ok, you want something in return. I can…understand. A deal then? One story and I will, say, send one of your family back to your world. How about it, your beloved little brother safe and sound in his bed even after you lose?"

Sarah considered it, Toby could be safe no matter what? Just one story? She looked at the King, he seemed to be telling the truth. But just she couldn't bring herself to trust him. The many years of being on the run from him had trained her to pick up on tiny cues. It was just one story, not much at all, but something about the way the King was looking at her made her think this was about something more important. So she shook her head, "And I should trust what you say? _This isn't another trick Sarah, I'll let you try and rescue your family Sarah," _she mocked him bitterly, "You always keep your word."

The Goblin King leaned forward, "I never said that I wouldn't kidnap you and trap you until time ran out."

Sarah stared, "Why would I even think to ask that? Most people assume that when you give someone a challenge, you actually give them the chance to actually finish it!"

The Goblin King shrugged, "I don't see where that's written. It's certainly not in my magic." He leaned back in the chair, lounging again, grinning, "Come on Sarah, story!"

His casual, dismissive, attitude infuriated Sarah so much that she lost any and all caring about whether or not she made the Goblin King angry. She laughed contemptuously, "Goblin King, Goblin King…" She fixed him with a furious stare combined with a superior smirk, "You have no power over me."

After a few seconds of silence, the Goblin King stood slowly from his throne. Sarah expected to see him shaking with rage, was actually hoping to rile him up. To make him make a mistake. Anything that would give her a chance to get out of here and back to her family. But that insufferable smirk was the only thing on his face, or… could she still detect a razor sharp glimmer of anger in his seemingly cold eyes. "Ah Sarah, dear, sweet, Sarah. You will not make me angry. My time of triumph is at hand and _I will win_. Spend time in your memories, because you won't have them much longer." He vanished with a blinding flash leaving Sarah and Sir Didymus still trapped with time rapidly running out.

_______

"Is it raining," Robert asked, feeling a droplet of cold water hit his face.

Hoggle looked up at the sky in shock, "Yeah, I guess that's what this stuff is. Rain. Haven't seen that here before."

"What do you mean, you haven't seen rain? Doesn't it rain here," Irene asked.

Hoggle shrugged, "Never seen it before I went to your world. Nothing happens in this Labyrinth if Jareth don't want it too." He frowned at the sky, "I would think he ain't too happy right now." He started walking again as they heard a loud thunder clap, "We should hurry." Multiple lightning strikes followed the thunder and he sped up, "We should really hurry."

* * *

*AN*

Dun, Dun, _Dun_!

Yeah, I know, it's a really short one and I'm sorry on many levels, that it's short, that it's late, that I'm almost too tired to even post it. So!, as compensation I'll post the next one sooner than usual. Like tomorrow. _Maybe!_

*Insert clever comment about reading and reviewing here!* Or not. I'm open. Either way…:-)!


	11. Chapter 10: Direction

Chapter 10 – Direction

The torrential rain that poured through the unprotected window was both a blessing and a curse to the trapped Toby. On the one hand he was defiantly soaked, on the other hand, the rain had given Toby the idea of trying to slip through the bars of the cage. If there had been a lock on the cage, he would have tried to pick it. He had learned to pick locks when he was five. Of course, his sister had regretted teaching him it almost instantly, once she found where her diary and stuffed animals kept disappearing to. And now after an hour of working himself through, of wriggling and squeezing, with one final push he was through. Thrilled, he jumped up and down, hands in the air. But quietly. Jareth had been randomly popping in and out but he hadn't been back in awhile. Not since it started storming outside the window. Another clap of thunder shook the castle and he jumped, glancing towards the window, he hated storms. Although… through the window he would be able to see the whole of the Labyrinth. He didn't remember his last time in the Labyrinth and he was really curious about it. But he really hated storms. But he really wanted to see the Labyrinth. Taking a deep breath and facing his fear, he walked quietly to the window and looked out. It was storming pretty badly now. Lightning flashed and he caught his first real glimpse of the Labyrinth. He frowned, it was just a maze! What's the big deal about a big maze? He sure couldn't see anything special about it. The light quickly faded and Toby started to turn away from the window but not before he saw, just barely glimpsed, a figure floating out in the middle of the air not far from the window, arms outstretched. He stared and caught it again with the next lightning flash. This time he recognized Jareth by his distinctive hair and quickly ducked to the side, out of sight of the window. Toby had never seen such and expression before but if he had to classify it, he would say it was a gruesome mixture of frustration and rage. That face terrified him and he shivered.

Toby moved away from the window as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't want to face a Jareth in that kind of mood. Pulling the door open, he peeked out to the left. Nobody. He looked to the right. Still nobody. He glanced behind him, back into the room where lightning revealed Jareth was still floating in the air, then jumped out of the door, accidently slamming it loudly behind him. Afraid someone had heard and would be rushing towards him with weapons drawn, Toby ran to the right as fast as he could.

Maybe he was just tired and hungry and looking for something to take his mind off it but as Toby ran down the hallways of the Goblin Kings castle, still not seeing anyone, he noticed something. This was not the stone ancient looking castle his sister had described to him when she told him stories about their adventure here. For one thing it was clean, the way his sister talked about the castle, with its dirty goblins and wandering army of chickens, it should give the city dump a run for its money. But these halls were clean, even cleaner than their house, which was saying something. The walls were decorated with colorful paintings and tapestries showing scenes of dark, gentle forests and restful, rolling hills. The floor was covered in plush carpet covered with leaves and bright flowers. Even the doors were decorated with pretty pictures and patterns. Toby rolled his eyes in disgust, _what a little girl_. And just as he finished that thought, he realized something else, he hadn't come to a corner yet and he'd been running for a few minutes at least. There was no way this castle could be _that_ big. He started to run faster but still the hallway stretched on in front of him.

It wasn't much longer before he dropped to the floor, exhausted, rain water pooling around him, soaking into the carpet. He looked up, but the hallway still went on. He turned his head and looked behind him, the same hallway seemed to stretch out behind him. Frustrated, he pounded his fist against the soft carpeted floor. The doors looked the same, the tapestries repeated themselves countless times, it all looked the same! A quick flash of insight later, he leapt, an idea brightening in his mind. He remembered sitting on his sisters lap, listening to everything her imagination could come up with. She loved to tell stories, but there was something he always noticed in them. A theme. He had to do something unexpected, think outside the box, out trick the trickster king. So what if instead of going forward, he went backward. He turned and faced the opposite direction, closing his eyes. Then he started to walk backward down the same way he had been going. He almost instantly hit a wall. Opening his eyes again with a grin, he turned the corner, and come face to face with a goblin.

"Who're you?" The goblin asked, pushing his sleeve up his arm and balling his hand into a fist. This goblin was easily one of the ugliest Toby had ever seen. His face was an almost perfect circle; his skin, green and wrinkled, hung off his face like melting wax but it was his smashed in, wart covered, perfect pyramid shaped nose that really stood out. "How'd you get into the infinite hall? Actually, how did you get out of it?"

Toby took a step back, he still wasn't very tall and this goblin glared at him eye to eye. He could easily beat Toby up. Better be polite and careful. "My name is Toby, I'm trying to escape. Can you help me?" 'Asking for help is never a bad thing,' his sister had said, 'but be careful in following it. Trust yourself to know if it's right.'

The goblin narrowed his eyes accusingly, "Are you one of them brats the King brings up here?"

Toby nodded reluctantly.

The goblin shrugged and relaxed, "Well, sorry munchkin, can't help. It's against the rules and I don't want to end up like Hoggle." The goblin started to walk away then stopped and turned back to him, "What did you do anyway? Wish away your brother? Want to be the strongest person ever? Pass a math test?"

Toby shook his head, "It's my sister."

The goblin nodded knowingly, "Ah, your sister. Can't say I don't blame you. Annoying little things they are." He nodded again and started walking, "But you're better off without them I say. Good luck!"

Toby ran after him, "Wait, I didn't wish away my sister!"

"What do you mean you didn't wish her away? How did you end up here?" The goblin snapped his fingers, "Oh! You mean you were wished away by your sister! Well why didn't you say so munchkin? That's a chicken of a different color! Follow ol' Grimples and we'll find you some grub and a bed. Might as well get you settled, you'll be here forever."

"But I…" Toby started to say.

Grimples interrupted him, "No, no. Best let your old life go. You're trapped here now, like the rest of us. No escape. Come on." He walked to the wall and opened a door that hadn't been there before, gesturing inside, "After you munchkin."

Toby stood there for a second, considering, trying to hear that intuition his sister was always talking about. But he didn't hear anything. When Grimples gestured at the door again, Toby shrugged and went in.

_______

"Are you sure this is the right way," Robert asked Hoggle, ducking down so that Ludo took most of the pelting rain.

Huggle muttered something not very complementary under his breath then spoke up louder, "No. Your darn daughter took the only way we had of knowing that with her! Now would you please just let me think!" He muttered something again then turned to stare at the cloud covered sky.

Irene sniffed, "Rude thing. Robert dear, you didn't happen to bring your army knife with you to the park, even though you weren't supposed to, did you?"

Robert grinned and hit himself on the head, "Well duh!" They had since explained that this was no dream, he'd had a quick break down and panic attack about Sarah, but he still hadn't adjusted as completely as his wife. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a one of a kind, deluxe, super special, Swiss Army Knife. He walked over to Hoggle and tapped him on the shoulder with it, "Will this help?"

Hoggle glared at it, "It's only a fancy knife."

Robert feigned being insulted, "Only a fancy knife?! Why this my dear Hoggle is one of my greatest treasures! It has everything; bottle opener, can opener, nail filer, compass, short saw, scissors…."

Hoggle grabbed the knife from Roberts hand, fumbling through the different blades, turning it over in his hands, "Did you say compass?"

"I sure did," Robert said with more than a little pride, "Saved my life many times."

"Then why didn't you say anything before," Hoggle demanded. "We could have used this earlier. Do you have any idea how much time we've wasted now? Did you forget that we only have less than 12 hours left before we lose everything? Are you even taking this seriously?!"

Robert's grin vanished and he wilted, "No! I mean, yes, I am. I guess I just forgot…"

Hoggle growled, "Humans! Well don't forget anything else that could be helpful, we don't have that kind of time!"

Robert nodded, "Sorry."

"You'd better be."

"What is your interest in our daughter," Irene asked, before Hoggle could launch into another tirade. They were getting old. Not that he was wrong, her husband's inability to realize things were important was legendary. But this goblin's loyalty to her daughter was concerning. He may turn out to be just as dangerous as the blond haired maniac in the castle.

Hoggle examined the compass, found which way was north and started off. "What do you mean?"

Irene, Robert and Ludo followed. "Why are you trying so hard to save her?"

"I donno… she said she would pay me if I helped her."

Irene shook her head, "I don't think it's that simple. You really seem to care about her. Why?"

"Why?" Hoggle stopped and turned. Irene noticed that his eyes were beginning to burn in irritation, "Why?!" He pointed an accusing finger at the castle that always seemed to stay in front of them no matter which direction they turned, "This place is miserable! We sit around all day, just struggling to survive. We have food, but only what Jareth gives us. We have homes, but only what Jareth doesn't destroy in a tantrum. Most of the time we can't even be sure if this is all real or just one of Jareth's dream worlds, or more commonly nightmare worlds." He took a deep breath, "I was so lonely before Sarah showed up, banished to the gates of the maze. I only had two things, two duties to look after and for hundreds of years that's all I did. One was gas the faeries at the gate, that I actually didn't mind. But the other was to get people lost in his labyrinth. Because of my job all the other goblins hated me since what I did was usually to them! You see, lady lucky enough to live Above, most of us aren't born here. We were once human and lived lovely lives Aboveground but we end all up here, one way or another. Solving the Labyrinth is only way to get freedom. We all have to try. Why, I've helped Jareth turn so many people into goblins, they had to expand Goblin City! So nobody was ever nice to me, never a kind word." He took a deep breath and continued almost reverently, "And then, on a completely ordinary, routine day, a young girl showed up. Desperate to find her brother, she asked for my help. I did as I always do, lead them around, get 'em lost. But this girl was different than the others. I could tell it almost instantly. She learned from her mistakes, she didn't give up when things got hard but she gave up things she'd once considered important to save people she cared about. She grew up. And she did it while smiling at me, hugging me, thanking me. She remembered my name, she called me her _friend_." Hoggle took another breath, "I don't have many friends. In fact, I only now have friends _because_ of Sarah. Her and the mutt and the larger mutt. They call me friend and they rely on me. And I can rely on them even when I don't like them. So, is that a good enough reason for you?" He stared at her, daring her to mock him, to strike his reasons down.

But Irene just smiled a little smile, "Lead the way Mister Hoggle, you will hear no more complaints from me."

* * *

*AN*

Isn't character development is always a good way to end the day? *sigh*

You may Read. You may Review. You may do both. You may do neither. The choice is yours and yours alone!

Either way…:-)!


	12. Chapter 11: Escape and Infiltration

Chapter 11 – Escape and Infiltration

How many hours were left? Sarah could just feel the minuets slipping away. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Not able to just sit there and let time paint her path, she had walked into the darkness looking for a way out, leaving Sir Didymus at the barrier just in case something happened. She'd tried everything to break through the barrier, but nothing worked. Thinking outside the box wasn't any help either. How could you think outside of something you trapped _inside_ of? The Goblin King hadn't returned to taunt her again, which could mean two things; 1) she really had pissed him off, and he was off somewhere throwing a tantrum or 2) her family was causing him trouble. She could only hope that they were both true. Now, standing here and seeing nothing more than the same endless black, still not able to find anything resembling a door, she started to force herself to consider a few things. What if she was kept trapped here until her time ran out? What if she…actually lost? Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself and held tight. She didn't know if she could stand being what was basically a slave to the Goblin King. Even if he took away everything she'd ever known, she simply knew it wouldn't change much about who she really was. She would still know that it was wrong, that she should be somewhere else. She would still try to fight. But what if that's what it came down to, her still fighting and not knowing why? What would she do? Would she just give up eventually or would she fight forever? Shaking her head, she realized that it was probably time to head back the barrier and check in with Sir Didymus. She tended to waver when she was alone and right now that was very dangerous.

* * *

"My Lady!" As she got closer to the barrier, she noticed that Sir Didymus, helmet askew, was riding quickly towards her on Ambrosius, "My Lady, look out!"

Sarah looked up and saw that the opaque, gray that had been the mirror surface only minutes before was gone, replaced by a giant, distorted, almost giraffe like, face leering down at them What went for a floor in this place started shaking and Sarah tumbled to the ground, "Didymus, what's happening!?"

Sir Didymus helped her up as the ground continued to heave, "I don't rightly know my Lady!" "Steady on," he said trying to maneuver a terrified Ambrosius close enough to help her up.

"It's the mirror, somebody's moving it," Sarah exclaimed as her brain tried to recognize the image in the mirror. But it didn't look like any goblin she had ever seen. The ground continued to heave but the face vanished.

"Moving it to where?"

Before Sarah could answer, a giant, wrinkled, wart covered hand came through the mirror. It stopped for a second, the quivered, then sped towards them.

"Run," Sarah yelled, dragging Sir Didymus and Ambrosius behind her. The hand slammed down just behind them with a loud smack. They tried to keep running but the hand was faster than they were and it easily scooped them up.

* * *

Grimples was silent for a second, thinking. "That's quite the story," he said scratching his nose.

Toby had just explained his situation, glad to finally enlighten someone know how strange his life was. He didn't know if he could trust Grimples but it was therapeutic to let it all out.

Grimples stood, chair scraping against the floor. Toby looked around but there was nobody else in the little kitchen in the castle besides them and the cook who was doing his best to ignore them. Grimples had paid him with little golden cubes to do just that. "Well, come on we'd better find your family."

"You mean you'll help us," Toby asked hardly believing his luck.

Grimples nodded and scratched his nose again, "I suppose I'd better."

"Why?"

Grimples shrugged, "I've been here a _long_ time and that darn king of ours has done plenty of horrible things. He tricks and cheats, lies and steals. He's turned nice people like you into ugly little goblins like me." He grabbed his nose and pulled it off. As the horror of this act was still registering in Toby's head, he stuck a finger down it and pushed a tiny bird out. The little bird chirped angrily at him them flew to the ceiling and alighted on a wooden beam. Grimples then pressed his now clean nose back against his face and wiggled it, "I like to think I haven't changed since becoming a goblin, that I'm still human inside. Moreover, since you are a fellow human, one who hasn't been tainted by this awful place, the right thing to do is help you and your family get the heck out of here. Otherwise you'll just end up like me." He started messing with his ear.

Toby eyed the goblin man, trying to ignore how he was now running a finger through his detached ear. He looked every bit a normal goblin, sworn to do the bidding of the King. But the large bulbous eyes, now staring right back at him, were full of honesty and sincerity and Toby could find no reason to distrust him. Even his heart was telling him it was all right. Maybe not all goblins were bad. After all Hoggle had proven that hadn't he? "All right," Toby said, smiling and standing too, "what do we do first?"

* * *

"I'm telling you there's nobody here," Hoggle insisted, gesturing around at the empty land.

"But you said that King said he was in the north!"

"I did, he did but that doesn't mean he was telling the truth!"

Irene glared down at the goblin, as much as she admired his determination; she was again beginning to lose patience with his attitude. Especially in this never ending, amazingly wet rain. They had come to the north of the Labyrinth, as far north as they could go. But there was nothing here. Literally, the only thing here was a mile and a half of flat ground that ended at the wall. In all directions. No doors, nothing to hide someone behind. Nothing at all. Except water that is. The water was beginning to pool deeper, held in check by the wall of the Labyrinth. This might be the beginnings of a flood.

"What now," Robert asked, shaking the compass-knife to his ear, wondering why it was spinning in all directions suddenly.

Hoggle shrugged, "How should I know! I got us this far, it's time for you to pull your weight too."

"Are we sure nobody's here," Irene asked again, stepping around a tiny river of flowing water.

"Ludo sure," Ludo said, stroking the stone wall with a big, furry hand, "Stones say nobody come through here before. They glad to see us."

"Well at least you're good for something," Hoggle grumbled, crossing his arms sourly. All this rain was beginning to grate on his sunny attitude.

"So we don't know where the last …thing… we're supposed to find is," Robert asked.

"Pretty much." Hoggle began to walk back the way they'd come, "Might as well head to the castle. It's the only place left."

"Well what can we do there? We have to find that Didamas guy," Irene asked, catching up to him, "And Sarah and we still don't know where she is!"

"Then we can ask the person who started all this where she is." Hoggle didn't know where this sudden courage had come from. In any other situation, he'd be the first one to suggest giving up or finding some place to hide but he found himself …grudgingly… putting himself in harm's way for his friends. _Willingly_ putting himself in harm's way. He had to get rid of these people quickly before he started…_liking_… them too.

* * *

Sarah opened her eyes but couldn't see anything. Was she still in the mirror? No, she thought as dim sunlight started to burst through the blankness above her. So where was she?

"My Lady!"

Sarah stood and saw that Sir Didymus standing next to Ambrosius, petting the anxious shaggy dog, "Where are we Sir Didymus?"

"I think I can answer that," a clipped, high-pitched voice said.

Faded light poured in and the hand reappeared, it scooped them again.

As Sarah's eyes adjusted although it wasn't much sunnier out here. It was raining. All she could see was orange. Were those feathers?

"Glad to see ya."

Sarah looked up and saw a giant orange bird. She blinked, suddenly recognizing the large figure towering above her, "Are you the wise man's hat?"

The hat nodded, bending its neck slightly, "Yep, that's me! Glad to see ya!"

"Don't….forget about me."

The hat rolled his eyes, "I couldn't if I wanted to."

The hand lowered and Sarah found herself facing a sleepy eye as big as she was. She peered at it, "Wiseman?"

She heard a yawn. "That's….that's me."

"Are you the fine chaps who rescued us," Sir Didymus asked, pulling the visor on his helmet down to shield his face from the rain and patting Ambrosius consolingly on his head. Poor Ambrosius looked about to faint from terror.

"Yep," the hat replied even though Sarah couldn't see him through the quickening rain, "snuck right into Jareth's palace and took you from that mirror he had hiding in his library. Bit of an adventure that."

"How? How did you sneak in and out of there without getting caught?"

The hat preened, "I am no ordinary talking bird hat. And this is no ordinary goblin wise man. Keep in mind that we can do a decent amount of magic ourselves, remember when we made that charm for you big dog friend? We barely broke a sweat making that! Why else do you think I hang around sleeping ugly here? Together we can turn invisible, walk through walls and so, so much more. Even the King couldn't see or detect us." The hat smirked, "You might say we're the two creatures in the Labyrinth the King would be afraid to mess with. But, as you know, our magic ain't cheap."

Sarah heard the sound of the donation box and laughed, "But we're tiny!"

"Oh no," the wiseman yawned, "…problem there." He casually flipped his hand, tossing them into the air.

Sarah screamed, closing her eyes, already bracing for impact. Maybe she would land in a puddle instead of on the unforgiving stone. But instead of falling to her death, she felt her feet gently find hard ground. She cautiously opened her left eye. The wise man stared up at her with sleepy eyes. He waved.

She threw her arms around him, "Thank you!"

The wise man blushed and ducked out of her arms, "Of course."

The box rattled again and the hat coughed softly, "Ahem."

Sarah laughed again and took off her small gold earrings, "Will these work?"

The hat eyed them greedily, "That'll do!"

Sarah dropped them in the box where they would happily live with whatever else the pair had collected.

"Gracias," the hat said cheerfully. "Now come on you old codger, there's a couple of goblins over in the Junk Pile who found a necklace of real silver!"

"All ri…right," the wise man said, slowly walking away.

"Wait," Sarah called after them, "Do you know where my parents are?"

The hat turned around but the wise man didn't stop, "Sorry, only one magic trick per payment!"

"Well," Sarah paused then pulled something out of her pocket. She glanced at it then held it out, "here, I have this."

The wise man turned and the hat inspected it, "What is it?"

"It's a locket," Sarah said, letting the small gold locket dangle from her hand. "It's my mothers. My birth mothers. She left it behind when she left us. It's all I have of hers." She paused again, "Will it do? I mean it's not even real gold but will you tell me where my family and friends are if I give you this?"

The wise man and hat were silent then the hat cawed sadly, "We couldn't take something so important. These are just trinkets but what you have holds memory and emotion. It is too important."

The wise man continued, "No, young lady, we will tell you where to find those you love. No payment necessary."

The hat grumbled for a second then nodded, "Yea, what do you think we're heartless or something?!"

"Thank you. Where are they," Sarah asked re-pocketing the locket.

The old man raised a wrinkled hand and pointed, "There."

Sarah froze; she knew where he was pointing without even having to look. She shouldn't have even had to ask really. He was pointing at the castle, it always led back to the castle, back to him. Whether or not her family had been captured again or if they were looking for her, she'd avoided it long enough.

"All of them?"

The hat nodded, "All the ones the Goblin King sent you to find."

_Well_, she thought, _if they were all there, maybe there was still a chance to win this and go home._

Sir Didymus patted a very soggy Ambrosius, "Is it time to storm the castle again my Lady?"

Sarah nodded and started walking towards it, ignoring the rain that was beginning to grow even harder. Lightning continued to flash in the sky, Sarah didn't flinch.

* * *

Irene peeked around the corner and saw the rows of short, stubby guards. She turned back to Hoggle, "How are we supposed to get past them! There's more than a hundred of them!"

Hoggle smirked, "Won't be a problem for me but you three stand out a bit."

Irene glared at him, "You are so helpful."

Hoggle just shrugged, wasn't his fault.

"What about this," Robert asked, picking up a couple of rags lying in a pile. He draped one around his head, "I bet we could hide in these!"

Hoggle shook his head, "Even us goblins aren't that stupid."

"I might argue that," Irene said flatly, just loud enough for Hoggle to hear. It earned her another glare.

"Any other ideas," Robert asked before it could start another fight. He hated fighting. "No, then the rags it is!" He tossed a few at Irene and Ludo, "Well, get dressed!" He spotted something lying against the wall, "Hey is that a cart?!"

* * *

Grimples and Toby walked down the halls, goblins swarming around them. The King was apparently in a very bad mood. At first, he tried to hide but Grimples quickly noticed that they weren't looking for him. They were tearing off every tapestry and peeking behind it. A couple of goblins were ripping off the carpet and looking very carefully beneath it. Goblins rushed in and out of doors. Mirrors and things with shiny surfaces especially seemed to be hated objects as they were smashed without exception with goblins taking each piece and staring into it for at least a minute. They were looking for something but whatever it was, it wasn't Toby. None of them even glanced at him. Once or twice, the Goblin King stormed by, when this happened Grimples simply tossed Toby through a doorway or shoved him behind a statue until he was gone. "He seems more upset than usual. We'll have to be very careful."

"Any idea what happened," Toby asked, untangling himself from some drapes. Grimples offered him a hand and helped him up.

"No but anything that makes Jareth this angry must be good for us. Come on, we're almost to the castle gates. Once we get those open, we'll make a break for the Labyrinth."

* * *

*AN*

My things seem to be picking up. These next few chapters might be important…***HINT HINT COUGH COUGH***….subtle huh?

Gah! Those vile Plotciraptors not only defeated mighty Sleep-Rex but they broke into the main compound and completely rewrote the ending! Nasty besties! But then, a good plotciraptor is a terrible thing to waste…ahh, I didn't like the original ending anyways. No worries, this shouldn't affect the update schedule too much and I think I like this one much better! (Isn't it scary though when you get this far in and find out that the author is still messing with the ending? ;-) )

And now for a word from our sponsors!

Read&Review Incorporated is proud to announce our new line of products;

Read&Review hairspray: the more you R&R, the better you look!

Read&Review CD Player: R&R has never sounded so good…

Read&Review Fast Food: Because everything's better deep-fried!

And finally, this years Golden Guitar Award winner, Read&Review Dance Machines: Because when you R&R, we dance!

Or not! Either way… : 0 )!


	13. Chapter 12: Apprehension

Chapter 12 – Apprehension

"I cannot believe this is working," Hoggle grumbled quietly.

Irene smirked and pulled her makeshift cloak lower over her face even though with the veil of rain hiding even more was hardly necessary. It was amazing what one determined woman could do with rags, mud and a tossed out bone for a needle, "I told you goblins were stupid. We probably could have just walked through them disguised as bushes."

Hoggle and a crouching Irene were pushing the cart with Ludo and Robert hidding underneath a few bales of hay through the slippery streets of Goblin City. The goblins meandering around, had scowled at Irene and mocked her height, but they didn't challenge them. By now, they had almost passed through most of the city. City. To Irene, this was no city, this was a collection of ramshackle huts, mud, and huts that seemed to be held together _by_ the mud. This was especially grievous since the rest of this place she'd seen, the Labyrinth itself, was clean and well kept and while it was confusing, it was at least easy to move through. But here the combination of rapidly pooling water and little to no drainage on these cobblestone streets made it so that the water just mixed with who knows what else to keep them moving slow. This difference was especially obvious when she looked at the castle they were time-consumingly sloshing toward. The castle, orderly, clean and spotless even on the outside, every window twinkling with the bright glow of civilization. The contrast was stark. She was beginning to feel compassion for the goblins who lived here. "This is the Goblin City, this is normal?"

"No, this is what happens when a King chases after a mortal for six years," Hoggle said with a long glare at the castle, "he let everything go to waste. It really didn't used to be that bad of a city but lately, it's gotten so that goblins from the City come to the _Bog_ because it's a better place to live."

"Are we there yet," a voice hissed from the hay cart.

"No Robert," Irene hissed back, "now be quiet!"

"Hey you two!" Irene's heart stopped as a pudgy goblin planted himself in front of the cart. The goblin glared at them, his posture that of someone who knew how to boss people around, "Where are you going with that hay? You know that hay is no longer allowed in the city, we don't need more fires!"

"Let me handle this," Hoggle muttered softly. He raised his voice, "This ain't Pickled Hollow?"

The goblin sighed, "I swear some of you are so stoopid." He pointed behind them, "You're in Goblin City you moron. Pickled Hollow is ten miles east of here!"

Hoggle slapped his forehead with a hand, "Oh right! I was wondering why it smelled so nice! I'll just turn this around …"

The goblin nodded, "Make sure that you do, we don't need no more fires. With all the blazes we've had lately, I'm surprised there's still anything standing! Although maybe this water falling from the sky, this…rain, means the King is taking an interest in the world again." The goblin nodded at them and walked briskly away.

They waited until he was gone before huddling together to talk.

"Do we keep going like this," Irene asked, keeping an eye out for more goblins looking at them strangely. "We don't need to attract more attention to ourselves."

"Yeah but I don't know of any other way to smuggle a large mutt and two humans into the Goblin Kings castle. We can always make a run for it if we need to."

Something hard hit Irenes shoulder and, startled, she stared at the ball of ice lying innocently on the ground, "Is it starting to hail?!"

"Come on," Hoggle muttered after taking a cursory glance at the frozen water, pushing the cart forward before Irene had a chance to properly look at the hail, "We're almost there."

Unnoticed by them, and yet all around, small balls of hail began to stack, rolling together almost as if directed towards the gates of the city, their similar shapes and actions ignored by those unused to such weather. But to any of the humans they would have looked very strange; hail wasn't supposed to be perfectly round, hail wasn't supposed to be perfectly clear, hail wasn't supposed to have a mad man's face with a terrible grin.

* * *

Sarah and Ambrosius walked quickly, they'd tried running for awhile but neither Sir Didymus nor Ambrosius could keep it up for long. As they rounded another corner, Sir Didymus was sitting on Ambrosius, happily recounting one of his many adventures. Sarah listened only enough to nod in the appropriate places, he'd already told this particular story twice. From her estimation, they were only a few more minutes walk from the city, the rain only hampering their spirits but not their progress. Ahead, hovering over Goblin City itself, was a midnight black storm cloud. A very strange looking cloud that was raining something more than the torrents of water assailing her now, even from this distance Sarah could see something glitter as it fell from the cloud. But what glittered and came from clouds? Before she could ponder this too long, the ground directly in front of her gave a great jolt and a brick wall thrust out of the ground, almost hitting Sarah in the chin. Three more grew out of the ground around them, enclosing them on all sides.

Enraged, Sarah hit the wall with her fist and screamed, "Oh no you don't you stupid maze!" Without even pausing to breathe, she found a hand hold on the wall and scrambled up. Sitting on the top, she leaned down, "Didymus, give me your paw!"

Sir Didymus reached up, his paw just brushing her fingers, "My Lady, I can't reach!"

Sarah leaned further, almost falling off the wall, "Just a little more!" She grabbed his paw, and pulled up, "Grab Ambrosius too!"

Sir Didymus gripped Ambrosius's paw and, not without effort, Sarah pulled them both up. Taking time to catch her breath, she looked out to see that the maze had drastically changed around them. Where they had been within easy sight of, if still far from, the city gates, they now found themselves surrounded by dark, moss covered trees. Sarah sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Where are we now," she asked resignedly. This was getting to be a little much.

"Hey look, it's that girl with the stuck on head!" A watermelon sized orange thing landed in front of Sarah's legs. It opened its eyes and grinned at her, "We never got to finish our game!"

Sarah heard the sound of drums and her heart skipped, they were about to start their stupid song! "Not them, run!" She jumped down from the wall, Sir Didymus and Ambrosius quickly followed. They started running, not slowing down to hear the Fireys song. They didn't stop running until they left the woods and the demented head-tossing creatures behind.

* * *

Grimples motioned to Toby, the way was clear now. Toby tiptoed out of the alcove, "Can you open it?"

The gate to the castle was closed in front of them, four giant x shaped locks and bolts doing a very good job of securing the door. There didn't seem to be any way for him to pick them open either. Grimples laughed, "Course I can! Here." He touched a simple lever on the side and the locks slipped soundlessly out of place. He pressed his hand against the door, "There might be an army out here."

"Doesn't matter."

"The King might be out here."

"Doesn't matter."

"This might not even lead outside, the King's been known to change things around on a whim."

"Doesn't matter. Open it."

"All righty then!" He pushed on the door and it swung open instantly.

"Charge," a voice yelled from the other side. Toby saw a very tall soaking wet, big foot like creature running at him. So he tackled it first.

* * *

"Mom," Toby complained loudly, "please let go!"

Irene hugged Toby even tighter, "Never again!"

Robert patted Toby on the back, very sympathetic, "Sorry kid, you know she gets like this."

Hoggle shook his head, "Humans, they're so emotional."

Grimples chuckled, "I remember you being a crybaby too."

"Shut up Grimples."

"Oh come on, you were way worse than that when you first got here!"

Hoggle scowled in response. He couldn't believe of all the goblins in the Labyrinth, Grimples was the one helping them. He _hated_ Grimples. The only goblin, being or grouping of sentient gas particles, besides Sarah, to consistently get his name right, he also had the dubious honor of being Hoggle's bunkmate before he'd been banished to the gates. Grimples…_snored_.

Toby had finally untangled himself from his mother and was looking around at the rest of the group. He pounced on Hoggle first, "You must be Hoggle!" He grabbed his hand and shook it with feeling, "Nice to finally meet you! Sarah told me so much about you! Is it true that you really helped save my sister?!" After Hoggle, somewhat reluctantly, jerked his hand away, Toby turned to Ludo, the thing he'd tackled just minutes before, "Sorry Ludo, you just surprised me."

Ludo lumbered over to him and wrapped him in his large, furry arms, "Toby safe?"

Toby smiled up at him, "Yeah, I'm ok." He blinked, realizing something. He counted the number of heads; mom, dad, Hoggle, Ludo, Grimples… "Sarah's still missing?"

There was a visible slumping of shoulders in the group. "And Sir Didymus. He wasn't where he was supposed to be when we went to find him. But Jareth kidnapped Sarah, right in front of us," Hoggle mumbled, a unhappy tilt to his mouth, "She's probably locked up someplace."

"Kinda," Toby said, trying to fend off his mother who wanted to do nothing less than squeeze him to death, "last I saw, she was trapped in a mirror somewhere."

Hoggle moaned, "Now we have to go looking for her too! We were hoping she was here! My feet can't take much more of this!"

"Do you think she's in the castle somewhere," Grimples asked, peeking out of the corner they were hiding around. None of the goblins milling around the main doorway seemed to notice them lingering in the shadows of the castle. He looked out to the city and was startled to see goblins quickly starting to disappear from the streets. It might be simply because the piles of hail had grown larger than the houses themselves but he couldn't shake the feeling that something important was happening.

Toby shrugged, "She might be, the only places I've seen are the room where Jareth kept the cage and the halls coming down here. I didn't exactly have time to explore. Although, I wouldn't mind having time to explore…" He looked at his mother hopefully.

She put her hands on her hips, "Toby Brian Williams, you are never leaving my sight again much less exploring the magical oddity of a weirdo who kidnapped all of us 's castle!" Toby slouched with a grimace, it had been worth a shot.

"Speaking of time, how much of it is left," Robert asked, trying to find any sign of the sun in the dark, cloud covered sky.

"Anybody got a watch," asked Toby.

No one answered because nobody did. But the silence continued to stretch as none of them could think of a plan or even something to say. The rain and hail that had been blocked by their proximity to the castle started hitting them again and the southerly wind began to blow even harder.

"Shouldn't _you_ know," Hoggle asked Grimples with a growl, completely missing the atmosphere of those around him. "You were the one who got to stay in the castle. Shouldn't you know all Jareth's little hiding places?"

"I only mop the floors, he doesn't exactly tell me his cunning plans," Grimples said with a hand raised halfway to his nose, "But I would think if it was that important, he wouldn't let it out of his sight." Grimples squinted, hand lowering slowly, staring off into the distance, "Although…"

"What?"

Grimples shrugged, "I'm not saying that she's there but I do know of this room in the top of Jareth's tower. It's locked and he's the only one with the key. Some poor goblin snuck in there one time. The King was so furious that he banished him to Neverground, the place beneath Underground where nothing at all exists." Grimples shivered, "No food, no air. I'm not even sure anybody can survive down there." He scratched his nose unconsciously, "But if she's anywhere in the castle, my money's that she's there."

The rest of the group exchanged glance, most of them not sure if they could trust the goblin with the detachable pyramid nose. Hoggle shook his head in annoyance, he hated that _Grimples_ was the one to actually come up with the plan but he had nothing better to go off of, "Can anybody think of a better idea? Anyone?"

Again the silence spoke volumes of uncertainty so Hoggle shrugged and looked back at the castle where three pairs of armored goblins now stood guard at the door, "So, how do we get back in without being seen?"

* * *

Having fought their way through yet another time wasting trap, Sarah and Sir Didymus found themselves standing on a cliff just outside the gates of Goblin City, rain pelting their heads. Whatever the strange thing was that had been falling from the clouds in the city had stopped in the intervening time, returning to the torrent of rain. Sarah watched the walks on the city walls, expecting to see armed goblins by the hundreds manning them. But it was empty. There weren't even any chickens pecking around outside. She didn't like how this looked. He was planning something.

"My Lady."

Sarah glanced down at Sir Didymus, "I know." They'd been standing here in the rain for a few minutes at least, Sarah's apprehension building by the second. In front of her lay the end to this. Possibly. Fingering the compass in one hand and her mother's locket in the other, she considered how she almost couldn't come up with the courage to take these next steps. What if she was already out of time? What if she sauntered victoriously into the Goblin Kings palace only to find out that time had run out or that someone was missing? She'd lose everything and not even remember it.

She felt a furry paw take her hand and squeeze it, "I'm here, Lady Sarah. Whenever and forever."

Sarah almost started crying at the sincerity in Sir Didymus's voice. She smothered it but she couldn't stop her voice from cracking, "Thank you Didymus." Ambrosius barked and Sarah bent down and petted his head as he tried to lick her face, "You too Ambrosius." Taking a deep breath and with Sir Didymus on one side and Ambrosius on the other, Sarah took one step then another until she was walking briskly towards the city gates and whatever awaited her there.

* * *

*AN*

Me thinks the roads are beginning to converge. The orchestra is beginning its crescendo. Tension builds. The showdown is coming…but not for a little while longer.

[Scene]: A vast wilderness spreads out before our heroes, framed by the setting sun and an endless blue sky. Trees and water are plentiful while off in the distance a herd of wild mustangs gallop. Our heroes are stunned by the beauty of the sight.

Read shields her eyes from the bright sun: _I can't believe this Review, is all this our land?_

Review nods and puts away his binoculars: _It is now. Here we can be free and live our lives. The Grammar Empire won't ever find us. _

Read is skeptical: _Are you sure? They found us at Book Binding Junction and Page Turn Pass. How do you know that they won't find us here too?_

Review: _We struggled through the Chapter Mountains and over Plot Hole Canyon, they don't have the courage or the guts to make it here!"_

Read: _But what will we do here Review? We don't have any food or shelter? How will we survive!_

Review: _We can live off the land, build our own home! Think of it Read, all this to roam and explore!_

Read: _I don't want to live alone, roaming the wilderness day after day. As much as I love you Review, I need human contact beyond just you! _

Review smiles: _I'm sure others will be along soon. We left directions at all the towns we passed through, somebody has to get the hint. They'll want to escape the Empire too. Don't worry Read, they'll come. _

[Scene]: The camera pans back to watch our heroes beginning to slowly head down the hill. Then, slowly pan far behind them as the first of many of the people who will come to be known as Reviewers steps out of the shadow of the mountains and into the sun.

Or not…either way:-)!


	14. Chapter 13: The Power of Dreams

Chapter 13 – The Power of Dreams

Sarah and Sir Didymus finally reached the gates to the city. By now they were in appalling shape; Sarah's hair was frizzy and a mess of tangled knots, having dried once the rain stopped, Sir Didymus's fur was muddy and Amborsius was limping because of a thorn in one paw. Not the best way to face someone's greatest adversary but the nearest spa or salon, brush even, was in another world completely. Sarah stared up at the giant gate towering over her. This gate was in her way and she was too tired to try and break it down. "Open up!"

The gate began to creak open slowly and once there was enough room, Sarah marched right in, Sir Didymus and Ambrosius following closely.

"Of course," Sarah sighed stopping just inside the gate, looking at a silvery and yet clear surface blocking her way, filling every inch of the space in front of her. The half globe wasn't completely solid, almost like the surface of the mirror they'd been trapped in. Sarah could see the Goblin King's castle through it but the air between them rippled. When she squinted and the light from the sun hit the bubble just right, it looked as if the large bubble was made of thousands of smaller bubbles. Sarah scanned the perimeter, noticing that there wasn't any space between the bubble and the walls of the city. She couldn't slip around this one.

"What is it my Lady," Sir Didymus asked, poking the oddity with his always handy spear while Ambrosius sniffed it.

"I have an idea," Sarah said softly. She should have known it wouldn't be this easy. That she couldn't just walk into the castle and claim her victory. The shining things falling from the clouds, the newly formed half globe in front of her; how had he known that this was her weakness, that this was what she feared the most? Memories flooded back filling her minds eye with images; an elegant ballroom, a magnificent dress, a haunting song. That moment in time, coming _so close_ to giving in. It must be why he was trying it again. She'd come so far that he was running out of new ways of slowing her down. He'd just try what had almost worked before.

"We don't have to go through it my Lady," Sir Didymus said, "We could find another way."

The gates were still open behind her, she could still turn around and try to find another way. But didn't want to, this was just another trick, testing her strength. The Goblin King was trying to trap her again but, just like last time, she would come out on the other side. She wasn't scared of him and his tests. "Stay here Sir Didymus," said Sarah as she took a resolute step towards the bubble.

"Never, my Lady!" He and Ambrosius tried to follow her but Sarah stopped them with a gesture.

"I won't put you through this. I don't know if what's on the other side of this bubble is a dream or a nightmare. The Goblin King may very well have decided that he'd had enough of me and this is my punishment. I can't take that chance with your life Didymus. Please, you and Ambrosius, stay behind, stay safe."

"But my Lady!"

Sarah didn't wait for his next argument, she quickly stepped boldly through the surface and instantly disappeared.

Sir Didymus watched as the surface contracted quickly and even as he ran forward to follow her, the globe it became solidified and swiftly flew away towards the castle. "Oh my Lady Sarah, stay strong." Taking a deep breath he urged his dear friend towards the castle where this entire adventure would most certainly end. He would wait for her there.

* * *

"Did you hear that," Toby asked, peeking around the corner to see if the coast was clear.

"A scream," Hoggle said, looking around as if he could spot the source.

"Is it just me or did it sound familiar," Irene asked.

"Probably some poor soul who made Jareth angry," Grimples shrugged. "Nothing we can do for them."

Robert pulled his son back behind him and leaned around the corner to check the corridor himself, "So where's this secret room you think Sarah's hidden in again? Are we almost there?"

"We're on the third floor, the locked door is in the high tower. We've got a ways to go."

"You know we could move a lot faster without the giant walking carpet lumbering behind us and slowing us down," Hoggle grumbled shooting Ludo an annoyed glance.

"Ludo not stay behind. Ludo save Sarawh," Ludo replied, drawing himself up so that he really towered over Hoggle.

Hoggle flinched and backed down, "Just sayin'. Don't take it so personally."

"Come on," Toby said, bounding around his father and taking the lead again, "we're getting closer to Sarah!" Ludo went next, catching up to Toby and walking alongside him, keeping his keen eyes on the closed doors.

"He is very much your son Robert," Irene said fondly to Robert, watching their son play tackle Ludo, "such energy."

Robert grinned, "But he's got your brains. And your eyes." Irene smiled and took Roberts hand. Together they followed their son down the hall.

Hoggle watched them in disgust, waiting till they were far enough away to follow and exclaim, "I think I'm going to hurl. Lovevy dovey things like that always make me sick!"

Grimples grinned although with his face it was more frightening than funny, "You know, I used to hear you mumble a name in your sleep. What was it again?"

Hoggle blushed brightly, "Don't know what you're talking about Grimples. Come on, we're being left behind."

Grimples just laughed, "Whatever you say Hoggle, whatever you say."

* * *

Sarah pulled the pearl handled brush through her hair one last time, making sure not a single strand was out of place. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and grinned happily, she loved her life. She wanted for nothing, needed nothing, her life was perfect in every way. Her hair was never tangled, she was always healthy, even her skin was flawless, she hadn't had a pimple or mole in ages. Who wouldn't want a life where everything was just perfect?

"Ready my dear?" Jareth, the King of the Underground asked, leaning against the doorframe to her room dressed in his usual attire of loose, flowing shirt and ...tight pants.

"Just a second J, I'm almost finished."

"I wish you wouldn't call me that."

Sarah stood and smirked, "Tough, it's what I've called you for years now." She sashayed across the room to her jewelry stand, enjoying the way Jareth watched her move. "What's this dinner for again," she asked as she wondered which of her many necklaces to wear. The sapphire chain would look good against her green dress. But then so would the firelight rubies roses. "I hope it isn't another masquerade." The last masquerade had ended rather abruptly when some kind of giant, hairy creature had broken down the doors and started on a rampage. Tossing tables of food across the room and growling in fury, it'd only been stopped when she herself had planted herself in front of it and ordered it to. The look it had given her, it seemed almost like anguish, almost like it had real emotions. She'd felt sorry for the poor beast and tried to help but Jareth, in all his wisdom, had quickly realized that the animal was in the grasp of some horrible disease that made it have hallucinations. The beast was dangerous and the only cure for the disease was a painful series of treatments. Weeks later, when the creature was cured, it was, of course, released back into the wild. She'd been concerned for it and searched everywhere she could think of but she'd never been able to find it again.

"No, it's just a little party for the King of the Land of Stench. He's been a little surely lately and I thought this might cheer him up. Plus, he has been hilariously frantic to meet you my dear." He appeared behind her, taking full advantage of that always annoying teleporting ability of his, and leaned around her shoulder, "Here, this one." Sarah stayed still as Jareth draped a beautiful necklace where dazzling diamonds had been cut into dozens of tiny little moons around her neck and clasped it at the back.

Sarah picked up the little charm hanging at the bottom of largest moon and examined it at it, "Who is this supposed to be J?" The charm was shaped like tiny cage with three gold figures of varying height seemingly held inside. Odd. Gold, a very hot color, was an daring choice with a cold looking diamond necklace.

"It's nothing," Jareth said, spinning Sarah around to face him, admiring it with obvious pride, "just an old _family_ heirloom."

Sarah shrugged and dropped the pendent from her hand, "Whatever. Come on I hate being late."

"Allow me to get the door." Jareth said appearing back over by the door again. He opened the door and bowed, "My Lady…"

Sarah smiled and curtsied, mocking him a little, "Why thank you my good King."

The hallways of their castle home looked spotless, as always. The happy little goblins just loved cleaning them. Sometimes Sarah could swear they even sang while they worked. Smiling goblin servants bowed as they passed. J, caring and regal as always, nodded in thanks of their respect. Beautiful wall hangings covered the walls while a loose cloth wave hung over their heads, fluttering in the gentle breeze. Out the windows, the lush gardens of their land stretched for miles in all directions. Radiant rose bushes, fields of brilliant tulips, there was even a corner of the gardens was formed to make a fun little maze. Sarah loved wandering the gardens when she was allowed, just being out there with nature was soothing, almost as much as she imagined the ocean would be. Maybe Jareth would let her change a part of the land into a lake. Some body of water at least. She would love to just sit next to a lake and stare out at the ripples in the water. Yes, she would ask for permission after the dinner. As they neared the grand staircase that lead down to the banquet hall, Sarah's mind wandered into imagining what kind of lake she would like and she fingered the charm on her necklace unconsciously.

Jareth noticed and quickly took her hand. "Hold on a second," Jareth said, looking down at her, eyes sharp and intense.

Sarah blushed, she hadn't seen him look at her like this in awhile, but she liked it, "What?"

Jareth didn't respond. Instead he leaned down, eyes closing, lips pursing.

Sarah's heart fluttered as she closed hers as well and leaned up.

_**No!**_

Sarah opened her eyes in confusion, where had that voice come from? She backed away from Jareth and looked around, "Did you hear that?"

Jareth shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Please."

"But I heard something!"

Jareth grabbed Sarahs hand, flashing her a smile, and pulled her down the hall, "Come my dear, you're the one who said you didn't want to be late. You'll love meeting Hogbert, he's such a funny little goblin."

But Sarah pulled back, holding her ground. Something… She pressed a hand to her head, thoughts suddenly feeling muddled. Something…. "But…"

"Sarah." Sarah looked at him, surprised at the pleading tone in his voice. "Please Sarah, don't do this."

Sarah glared at him, both hands pressing against her head, "Do what?!"

_**No!**_ The room shook violently, vases crashed to the ground and exploded into a hundred pieces, but only the room and the things in it moved, Jareth and Sarah didn't move at all almost as if they weren't really part of this world.

Sarah took a step backwards then another. _**No, this isn't right!**_

"Sarah, don't do this," Jareth begged, "Please, don't fight me."

"I'll never stop fighting you Goblin King," a voice said, coming unbidden from Sarah's mouth. Sarah firmly tried to keep her lips together but whatever force was inside her now was too powerful. Dream Sarah lost.

The real Sarah shook her head, clearing away all the fake thoughts and memories she'd had in this dream. Now that she was free of those very unwelcome feelings, she easily recognized the slight hazy, almost muddled look that everything had in one of the Goblin King's dream crystals. She fixed the Goblin King with a stare, "I won't be drawn in by illusions like this. You can't beat me with these petty tricks Goblin King, stop wasting my time." She reached a hand up to tear off the diamond necklace when she realized that it was gone, replaced by her mother's fake-gold locket. She grabbed it and held it in a fist, remembering why this entire world was wrong.

The Goblin King was shaking, not even trying to hide his raw anger. "I've given you so many chances Sarah. I was trying to be _kind_ and I have been _very_ patient. But you have defied me, ridiculed me, taken my charitable nature and abused it." He crossed the distance between them in an instant, leaving Sarah with nowhere to go, "No more. You have the strength to say no to your dreams Sarah. It's a very annoying quality, but I've always known you were strong." He sneered, "But Sarah, over the years I've noticed that there is one thing you could never escape alone… your nightmares. Your guilt. Those feelings you hide deep inside and are afraid to even face. So Sarah, we have come to the end of this game, if I can't trick you, I will break you!"

"Why are you doing this," Sarah asked, backing up, bravery fleeing, feeling her panic rise, "what about the time limit?!"

Jareth smirked, no laughter or superiority in the expression now only raw anger, "What time limit?" He grabbed Sarah by the shoulder and, in one smooth motion, shoved her out the window.

As she fell, she screamed.

* * *

*AN*

…hehe…

Read? Review? [Yes No Maybe] (_Yes!_)

Or not. Either way…:-)!


	15. Chapter 14:The Power of Responsibility

Chapter 14 – The Power of Responsibility

Did it ever stop raining? Had there ever been silence, a time without the constant barrage of thunder and lightning? She couldn't remember anymore. For as long as she could recall, she'd lived a simple life in the cabin with the ever present storm raging outside. All alone in her little wooden house. With a table and chairs, a bed and a door. All wooden, all terribly old. And as solitary as the life was, she was hardly the only person around. Through the unwashable, always dirty windows, she could see that the day beyond the door was bright and happy and without rain. People walked by, lighthearted smiles on merry their faces. Children laughed and played, rolling down hills and making up games. Strange creatures both tall and small lumbered by to the amusement and joy of the children. They didn't seem to see her and her small cabin, her thunder and rain, but she could see them. Sarah would spend her empty hours just watching them through the grimy windows, laughing with them, crying with them, enjoying their joy. There was a happy world beyond the door but she could never force herself to turn the knob and leave this place for that one. She didn't deserve that kind of happiness. If only she could remember why.

Another lightning strike hit the ground near her cabin but she didn't jump anymore. She'd lost her fear of such petty things. What concerned her, what kept her awake at night shivering in fear, were the voices haunting the dark.

_I never _really_ loved you,_ a familiar voice shrieked at her. She pulled her covers over her head, shivering, until the sun broke through the clouds.

_You are not worthy of being a Lady,_ a familiar voice yipped at her as she tried to sleep. She felt her heart crack and fall to pieces.

_Your mother left us because of you,_ a deep, familiar voice screamed at her. The sound made her cry a waterfall of tears but she didn't know why.

_I should have left you lost forever,_ a familiar voice grumbled in the night. This voice filled her with regret and loss of things she couldn't remember.

_Hate Sarawh,_ a familiar voice growled in a deep tone dripping with disgust. Her knees buckled, her stamina failed and she couldn't lift her head.

But worst of all, always just before she slipped into fitful, thrashing, dreams, a familiar and scared little voice whispered in her ear, _why_ _do you hate me Sarah?_

Despair. Depression. Guilt. She swam in them. She ate them. She drank them like others drank water. Her nights were always filled with the terrible voices from the dark parts of her mind. Accusing, their words broke her heart and made her strength wither. She could not escape the voices even though she didn't know who they were.

And then there was the man. The impossibly handsome man. He came every day, just as the sun was highest, when the hate filled voices were mere fears to dread as the sun sank. But he never came through the always closed door, instead he simply appeared. He would always start off with the same question, "Why are you still here Sarah?"

And she would always reply the same way, "Because I'm still fighting." She wondered what she was fighting for. Must be important.

After that exchange their talks would diverge into one of two different conversations, usually the man would yell and scream and rant while she sat there calmly, both confused and exasperated. Or he would start asking her wild questions. Like what love was. She answered them as best she could, not knowing the man but recognizing that he was obviously distressed. There were a few amazing arguments as she defended that love was real while he demanded to know how she could know that. He never stayed for long, only a few minutes, always long enough to start her memories simmering but never long enough that they boiled over. Never long enough that she remembered anything important.

Time passed, days came and went. For awhile Sarah remained resolute and strong but after weeks of such emotional torment, her courage began to fail. And the weaker she felt herself growing, the stronger, the more real, the visions became until the hateful and frightening voices became images and figures, stalking both her days and dreams. Guilt was the foremost emotion. Most of the few memories that flittered to the surface when she finally found sleep in the night filled her with guilt. A baby, a boy she thought, crying alone in a crib. Anger, blind selfish anger. A wish. Friends put through years of pain. Because of her. But when the sun rose in the morning, when she opened her eyes to the light of the sun, the memories were gone, only the all too real guilt remained. It compounded, building, weighing her down, day after day growing. Cracks began to show in her resolve. It wasn't too long before the man took notice.

"Why are you still here Sarah?"

"Shut up."

The man blinked, a ghost of a smile flickering across his face, "I'm sorry?"

Sarah grimaced, "I mean…oh what do I usually say…"

The man sat down in the other chair, facing her, "I believe it's I give up."

"No."

"Why not?"

Sarah struggled, she couldn't remember. She knew there was a reason she was here in the rain instead of out in the sun. There must be a reason.

"Why don't you unlock the door Sarah, you're the only one who can."

"I don't…"

"You don't know?" He leaned on the table, "You obviously cannot escape this on your own, why stay here forever? You know my offer. Take it. I can make these nightmares go away forever."

"No!"

"Why?" The man asked calmly, he didn't seem concerned that she was still being rebellious, "You have no memories, you have no idea what you're even here for. What's keeping you from coming with me?"

Sarah was shaking, the storm outside intensified. Her ghostly taunters appeared even though it was still bright afternoon outside. They mocked her, ridiculed her, lashed out. It was her fault they were like this, her fault, she could never take back what she'd done. It was all her fault. Their harsh words stung her ears. She screamed at them to stop, pleaded, begged. But they didn't, their accusations coming faster. Thunder boomed and the house shook violently.

"Sarah, I can make it stop," the man yelled over the noise. "No more nightmares, no more guilt! Nothing to worry about forever! Just say yes."

"I…I…"

"Just one little word."

Lightning flashed, the ground heaved, Sarah trembled. She shouldn't. Somehow she knew it was wrong… but she couldn't take the mountain of guilt anymore. Why did she need to feel guilty? She couldn't remember. But she should remember! She _needed_ to remember. Without realizing what she was doing, she stood and walked to the door. The man watched her silently. She grabbed the door knob, hand shaking, rattling the door. She needed to go out. She had to go out. Leave! _Come on Sarah_, she thought intensely, _you can do it._ Her hand tightened on the knob.

"_Sarah._"

Sarah stopped, hand dropping limply to her side. She turned, facing the one ghost she feared the most. A young boy looked up at her, eyes red like he'd been crying, "_Sarah, why do you hate me?_"

Sarah knelt quickly. "Toby," the name came easily to her tongue, "Toby, I don't hate you."

"_Then why didn't you want me?_ _Why did you wish me away?_" Sobbing, the boy had balled his fists up and was rubbing his eyes.

Sarah's heart was breaking. "I didn't really mean it! I love you!"

"_I was alone. I was so scared!_"

"Toby…"

"See Sarah," the man said, appearing beside her, "it's better for everyone if you just give up now. I can erase their memories too if you wish. Little Toby wouldn't remember anything of the things he's had to go through because of you. Your parents won't remember all the fights you had. Even your friends here would be happier without their memories of the horrors of the past six years." He knelt down beside her, turning her twisted face to his, "One word."

_He's right_, she thought, the idea becoming stronger with each passing second. Because of her everyone around her had suffered. Would continue to suffer. Unless… Yes, it would be better for everyone if she just…

"No!" The door crashed to the floor, almost hitting Sarah on the head, "Sarah, stop!" Sunlight poured through doorway behind her as a small figure stood framed in it, perfectly matching the ghostly one in front. The man disappeared from her side.

Sarah squinted, who?

"Sarah!" The figure bounded forward and threw himself at her, hugging her tight.

She knew that voice, that hug, "Toby."

"And me!" Another figure trudged through the door and planted himself next to her, "I'm here!"

"Hoggle?"

Toby's ghost copy shoved him aside, "No! Remember, you hurt them. You don't deserve them!"

"Sarah," the real Toby said, "who is that?"

The shadow Toby smirked, "I'm everything you don't have the guts to say little boy. I say what you're really thinking!"

"Come on Sarah," Hoggle growled, picking himself off the ground, "we need to get you out of here."

"Oh no," shadow Toby said, blocking the way out, "She's not going anywhere. She's trapped herself here. She won't let herself get over her guilt of what's happened or her deep rooted fears that you really do hate her. It's a prison of her own making and there are only two ways out. You are not one of them."

"What guilt," Hoggle demanded, "What does she have to feel guilty about?"

"I wished you away."

The two Toby's looked at Sarah who was sitting on the ground, staring out into space, her eyes watering. "Hoggle and Didymus and Ambrosius were hurt because of me. Mom and dad, kidnapped. Toby never had a real, safe, childhood. It's all my fault." She hugged her knees, "I started this and I can't finish it. You_ must_ hate me."

Hoggle narrowed his eyes, walked over to shadow Toby and picked him up by his collar, "Whatever you're doing to her, stop it. Now!"

Shadow Toby shrugged, "All this guilt is her own, the only thing I've done is to force her to either come to terms with it or give up." He grinned, "She's so close to giving up now. I doubt any of you can save her."

"But she never used to wallow in it, she's stronger than that! She accepts responsibility and tries to fix it! What did you do," Hoggle insisted, shaking Shadow Toby like a rag doll.

The real Toby took a decidedly different approach. He went to Sarah and pulled her hands away from her face, "Sarah." Blank eyes looked back at him. He smiled at her, putting every ounce of pride and love into it, "Sarah, I don't hate you, I never have." Sarah's eyes flickered between comprehension and blank despair. "I love you sis."

The ground stopped its shaking and the peals of thunder ceased. After a few seconds, Sarah smiled, her eyes brightening slowly and coming back to life. "Really," she whispered.

Toby hugged her with all his might, "Really."

Shadow Toby forced his way out of Hoggles grip and stood, growing taller and taller, bulking up until he didn't look anything like Toby anymore, "Remember Sarah, as long as you are around them, they _will_ suffer because of your actions. Can you accept that? Can you accept responsibility for that?"

"She don't have to," Hoggle butted in. He walked over to Sarah and leaned down, meeting her eye to eye, "Sarah, I'm a big boy." She opened her mouth but he bowled over her, "I'm here of my own free will, I'm still your friend of my own free will. Everything I do, I do because _I_ want to, don't you dare try to take responsibility for my actions." He took a deep breath, "_I_ knew it wouldn't be easy when I first started helping you through the Labyrinth and _I_ decided that it was worth it. Don't you dare feel guilty because _I don't regret anything_. And I bet that if you ask those parents of yours, they don't either." Hoggle stood and faced Shadow Toby, "Because that's what love is Jareth, a willingness to suffer for others sake because they mean so much to you. When have you ever done that for anybody besides yourself? Bottom line Jareth, we love her, you don't. _Leave her alone._"

Light poured through the windows, practically blinding everyone inside, Shadow Toby vanished in a puff of sparkles.

Hoggle grunted, "Finally." He turned back to Sarah to find real tears in her eyes, "What in the world are you crying about?!"

Sarah wiped them away with a quick gesture, knowing he wouldn't want to know just how much she loved and appreciated him at that very moment, "Nothing Hoggle. It's… nothing." The light returned to a bearable level and she stood, looking around the tiny room. The scene of so much pain. It had seemed like so much time had passed in here, years by the feel of it, but it couldn't have been more than ten minutes in the real world. She'd come so close to giving up in these four walls, only Toby and Hoggle could have gotten through to her like this. She hugged them tightly in turn. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah," Hoggle muttered, "Don't get mushy on me."

Toby smirked, "You were the one going on about what love is."

Before Hoggle could retort Sarah hugged them both at the same time, "Don't ruin it guys, we're having a moment!"

Hoggle endured it for a few seconds longer then forced his way out of Sarah's arms, "That's enough of that." He pointed an admonishing finger at them, "And if either of you ever tell anybody about what I said, I'll kill you right then and there!"

Toby rolled his eyes, "We won't." He shrugged Sarah's arm off his shoulder and stood straight, "We need to get going, Mom and Dad and Ludo are waiting for us outside."

"Where are we," Sarah asked also standing and ruffling Toby's hair affectionately. They couldn't be in the Labyrinth, well nowhere she'd ever seen before.

"Jareth had you trapped one of those globy kind of things behind a locked door in the highest room of his tallest tower," Toby explained, "The guy couldn't _be_ more cliché."

"Wasn't hard to find really," Hoggle boasted loudly, "I know every secret hiding place in the palace!"

Toby almost reminded him that his idea had been looking in the basements of the castle and that it had been Grimples who thought to look up here but Hoggle just looked so happy, _he was actually smiling_, that he couldn't bring himself to ruin it. Finally noticing the distinct chill in the air, he shivered, "Can we leave now, I still don't like the feel of this place. It feels so harsh, like everything horrible is just beating down on me. I don't like it."

Sarah nodded, "Yes, let's go." She would have no problems at all with that.

Toby took Sarah's hand, "Come on sis, I think you've been through enough today."

Sarah reached out to Hoggle, who took it with only the smallest of grumbles and together they walked out of the dark room into the brightness of a happier day.

* * *

*AN*

Dawww! Man, I'm a sucker for the happy endings.

Well, that's all folks, that's it!

Finete, al final, o fim, het einde, В конце, Ende, lopussa, la fin, udgangen, végén, 结束, sa katapusan, an deireadh, το τέλος.

In other words, a big THE END!

…what?

……you don't believe me?

…….you're yelling and screaming at your screen?

.….well fine, don't believe me!

...hey, you leave my mother out of this!

Really, you want more, you want an _actual_ ending?

……………………

……………………

………………..…..

fiiiiiiinnnnnneeee…

The real final chapter is the next one, you clever people you.

* * *

Lonely is the path walked by the few. Separated from the flock by choice, they hide among them by day but take a different face by night. Exceptionally skilled and highly trained, this opinionated band throws off the cloak of obscurity to stand firm in their beliefs against the silent world. A darling to some and a dread to others, this association has the mighty power to crush dreams or lift spirits with a single well placed word. They are the revered. They are the respected. They are… the Reviewers. The Reviewers will not be silent. The Reviewers will not be stopped. The Reviewers take things very seriously.

Or not! Either way…:-)!


	16. Chapter 15: The Power of Words

Chapter 15 – The Power of Words

Sarah opened her eyes to see her father and stepmother rushing towards her, faces shining. "Sarah!" She quickly found herself not only in their tight, warm, hugs but Ludo's as well. Toby joined in, dragging Hoggle into the huddle. Sarah was unashamedly in tears by the time they released her, feeling every ounce of doubt and gloom melt away in the wave of comfort and love.

Irene beamed down at her, wiping her own tears away, "Are you ok Sarah?"

Sarah hugged her, again overwhelmed with love for them all, "I am now."

Her father quickly grabbed her away into his own arms. "Sarah! Sarah, you're alive! Thank God you're ok. We were so worried!" He squeezed her tight and tried to lift her into the air. He failed with a strained grunt but moved right on, "Oh I love you so much Sarah!"

Sarah laughed, "Love you too dad!"

He pulled back and looked down at her suddenly stern, "You wished your brother away?"

Sarah winced, she hadn't expected to face her father yet. She didn't know what else to say, "…yes."

He frowned, "That was a very selfish thing you did."

Sarah nodded, completely sincere, "I know and I'm sorry!"

Robert shrugged, "Sarah, I'm not the one you have to apologize to."

"She's already apologized to me," Toby said, speaking up, "I forgave her a long time ago."

Robert eyed his two children as if unsure whether to drop it. He sighed, "Well, we'll talk more about it when we get out of here. Speaking of, Sarah would you happen to know how much time is left?"

Sarah shook her head, "There never was a time limit." The memories of everything she'd been through were still in the forefront of her mind. _What time limit? _ That mocking voice, so confident, so sure. "He was lying from the very beginning."

"…I don't get it," Hoggle said, squinting, thinking hard, "What do you mean there wasn't a time limit? Then what have we been running all around this twice blasted labyrinth for!"

Toby cocked an eyebrow, "Are you _sure_? He never said anything about it to me. I don't think he could have kept a big secret like that. He's the kind of person who likes to gloat over how brilliant he is."

"That's what he said."

"Could he have been lying? Again."

Sarah sighed, shoulders slumping, "You know, he might have been. I don't really know _what_ the truth is anymore!"

Seeing the look of distress on her face, Ludo grabbed Sarah, "Sarawh!" He hugged her tight, "Ludo scared for Sarawh!"

Sarah hugged her dearest friend, "Ludo…"

"Ludo not let Sarawh go," Ludo roared, sounding truly angry for the first time, "Ludo take Goblin King down for Sarawh! Sarawh stay safe!"

Sarah pushed herself out of Ludo's arms, "Ludo, let me go." She looked at him and he looked at her. His eyes began to water and Sarah felt her own follow suit. She'd been through so much with him. He was her best friend, the only one to be there through it all. He loved her and she loved him so much. She loved them all so much. "Ludo, I have to finish this. Whatever happens, whatever the truth is, I promise that I won't let anything else hurt any of you."

"Don't try and leave us up here Sarah," Hoggle growled, "Remember what I told you…"

Reluctantly Sarah nodded, they were here, for the most part, of their own decisions. They could do what they wanted. But she still felt the need to ask them, "…will you come with me?"

Irene and Robert bared down on her. "You weren't going to leave without us," Irene asked, hands on hips, the very picture of a stern parent whose child was about to be in a lot of trouble. Robert had the gleam in his eye alerting her to the fact that she was also on thin ice with him.

Toby rolled his eyes, "How many times do I have to say it sis? I…" He paused and looked at his parents. He blushed, "Well, you know what I was going to say."

Hoggle just cocked an eyebrow while Ludo wrapped his hairy arms around her again. She took them both as yeses. She looked at them all for a second, standing cramped in a small room, all watching her. There was even an extra goblin standing quietly in the corner she had yet to be introduced to. The only ones missing were Sir Didymus and Ambrosius but they were still down at the gate to the city. She winced, that could turn out to be a problem if there really was a time limit. But they were all here for her, she wouldn't let them down.

* * *

Since when had the halls of the Goblin King's castle have carpet and wall hangings? Or be clean? Sarah couldn't help but notice the changes as they walked down the halls of the castle, hordes of goblins fleeing before them. The instant any goblin saw four humans, two goblins and a small sasquatch walking freely among them, they, quite intelligently, panicked and ran for cover. They didn't want to be a part of what was coming. Grimples led the way, knowing the layout of the castle better than anyone. When asked where to look for the King, he'd shrugged, and said, "Where else? His new throne room."

They were not far from their destination when they heard a loud commotion somewhere in front of them. Before they could reach the source of the sound, Sir Didymus and Ambrosius came bounding around a corner being chased by half a dozen goblin knights. "Lady!" He waved at them briefly before returning to battle, "My Lady Sarah, you're okay!" The skirmish was intense, with Sir Didymus having to protect not only himself but his heroic steed as well using only his small spear. Ambrosius leapt and bit at the goblins but any time he tried to sink his teeth into one, the goblin would just barely slip away. For the first time, Sarah could see where all Sir Didymus's talk of skill in battle came from. For all her doubts, he was a very worthy fighter. His short spear bobbed and weaved, blocking sword and forcing the goblins to work together just to survive.

"Didymus! Ambrosius!" Sarah sped up, running towards the fighting duo. The rest of the group followed her down the hall. But all too soon, a jagged goblin sword flashed through Sir Didymus's defense and found its way to Ambrosius. The poor beast yelped and collapsed to the ground. He didn't move. Infuriated, Ludo roared a wall shaking call, echoing until the sound tripled in volume, sending the band of knights scurrying for cover in fear.

Ambrosius was whimpering softly when they reached the pair, Sir Didymus gently poking at the wound. "It is not deep," he said with obvious relief. "He will be fine." He laid a tired hand on the injured animals' head, "My friend, you have done me proud today. I shall never again call you a coward or a fool." Sarah knelt down and wrapped her arms around them both, Ambrosius licked her gently.

"Are you ok Sir Didymus," Sarah asked as Ludo picked Ambrosius off the floor.

The small knight sighed, "I am tired my Lady, that is all. I wish this business done."

"We're almost done Sir Didymus," Sarah said, taking a step forward, "just a few more steps."

Sir Didymus smiled gently and took a step to follow her, "I am glad."

* * *

The door to the Goblin Kings throne room matched the new décor of the castle. It was opulent and yet beautiful. A darkened gold was set with glittering jewels that formed a large crown while tiny, scroll worked, script danced around the edges. It stood at least thirteen feet tall and they could all stand side by side comfortably between the large hinges. Sarah took her time looking at it, feeling another chill of apprehension. Fear of what could happen building. A small hand took her hand and she felt the warmth it brought. They didn't have to say anything but she could feel the support and love of everyone around her. It made her strong. With a deep breath, and with the help of her family and friends, she shoved the two doors open.

* * *

Clothes of shining silver, head leaning on a curled fist, the Goblin King sat resplendent on his tall throne. His eyes flickered to them when the doors creaked open but he didn't say anything. Surprised and emboldened at his silence Sarah confidently walked in and stopped about half way to the throne. The Goblin King still didn't say anything. Sarah broke the silence.

"Goblin King."

The Goblin King finally looked directly at them but again stayed silent.

Sarah was confused now. This was the first time the King had not ranted and raved or gloated at her, the silence was strange. Trying to get back to familiar footing she spoke again, "I've won Goblin King. Let us go."

"Sarah," The Goblin King softly as he stood. "Sarah you have lost, accept it so we can move on."

The hairs rose on the back of Sarah's neck, she didn't like this unexpected change in attitude. Cocky and arrogant she could deal with but where had soft and offhanded come from? Knocked from her plan of attack, she fumbled, "I have…I have not!"

"But you have, the time limit has passed." He still wasn't talking forcefully like he normally did, it was more as if he was simply going through the motions. It unnerved Sarah even more.

"You said there was no time limit!"

"I lied."

"Which time," Sarah practically screamed. "You lie so often it's practically a given that anything that comes out of your mouth is a lie!" She took a deep breath, mentally shaking herself, realizing that she was letting him rile her up. It was surreal being on the other side of calm and composed. She didn't like it.

Jareth's eyes flashed into life at her outburst, "Are you annoyed Sarah? Losing your composure? Better be careful or you'll make a mistake!"

Sarah restrained herself again, she wanted nothing more than to run up and punch him in the face. Oh, she wanted _nothing_ more than feel that satisfaction. But she didn't, just barely. She refused to let him agitate her like this, not now. Beside her, Irene took a stepped forward, eyes blazing, jaw set, seemingly with the same violent idea in her head. But her father held her back and took a step towards the King himself, "I will not let you talk to my daughter like that."

Jareth scowled, "Be quiet. You are merely a pawn in this game, you don't have the right to even speak to me unless I give you permission!"

Robert lifted his head and fixed the Goblin King with the stare of a father who had had enough, "No, you listen to me. I don't _care_ who you think you are, but you do not have any authority over us. You will let us go _now_." Sarah almost grinned at his choice of words. Sometimes, when he wasn't cracking a bad joke or being idiotic, her father really knew just what to say.

The Goblin Kings eyes flickered between Robert and Sarah. "I should have kept you separated," he muttered softly, almost to soft to hear, "I should have given you another challenge, one that didn't involve them. I underestimated the strength they give you."

Sarah started, had the Goblin King just learned from one of his mistakes? This was another unwelcome surprise.

The Goblin King raised his voice, flashing her an assured grin, "But don't worry Sarah, I have thought of everything. Even that. Nothing will save you now. Look at your hand."

Feeling apprehensive, Sarah did. Her hand was glowing. Golden light radiated from her fingers and where there was light, she had no feeling. The light was slowly crawling towards up hand towards her wrist. Desperate, she tried to move her fingers but found that they wouldn't even twitch, "What…no!"

Jareth smirked, crossing his arms in victory, "I told you, time was up and you've lost. Don't worry, the process won't take long."

Sarah thought frantically. She couldn't have lost. She would lose everything, everyone, even herself! She liked who she was, for the most part. If only those words that had saved her last time still worked. She remembered them perfectly now. Now that they were useless.

_Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great — You have no power over me._

The Goblin King, Jareth, the man who was trying to control her, watched her, drinking her frantic fear like wine. Enjoying it.

….you have no power over me. Sarah's mind stopped abruptly, her eyebrows contracted together in thought. What if…what if that was still true. She blinked. "You have no power over me."

"Now Sarah, I thought we'd been through this… I so very do have power over you. And soon, now in fact, I'll have all the power over you."

"No," Sarah said, shaking her head, her speech quickening, thoughts raging like a hurricane, "no you won't. Because I've just realized something _Jareth_."

Jareth stood straight at the empathizes on his name. He dismissed her change in attitude with a flick of his hand, "It doesn't matter what you've realized, I've got control of about half your arm now."

"No, you haven't," Sarah laughed loudly, almost dancing in relief, "I've finally realized, after all these years, why those words had power over you in the first place!"

Jareth was looking slightly nervous now. He kept his silence.

Sarah grinned, "Why don't you stop me Jar-eth? Why don't you claim complete control and wipe my mind?" She paused dramatically, Jareth didn't even move. Her grin widened, "It's because you can't! The only way you could is if I surrender control, if I accept losing, if I let you because I think I have no other choice. That's what this whole thing has been about hasn't it? This elaborate game where you cheat and lie and trick me. You want me to give up, to lose hope, to think that I can't get out of this because it's the _only way you win_." To prove her point, she lifted the arm that was half golden light, she forced her shining fingers into a fist. Sarah's grin widened even more. Her heart and hope soaring now. "You only have what power I allow you to have Jareth, King of the Goblins. And I say no more. I will not give up, I will not let you rule me, I _do not_ give you any power over me!"

Silence stretched, Jareth was quiet for a very long minute. When he did finally speak his voice was filled with biting sarcasm, "Very. Good. What a smart little girl you are. Figured that out after, what, six years, five months and twelve days, today? But you seem to have missed something in you epiphany. You've already give me control. Not much, not yet, but I do have _some_ command over you."

This was another trick, it had to be. "I did not."

"Ah but you did. You gave me control by doing what I wished. You let _me_ bring you here, to fight for your family. You let _me_ decide what was worth fighting for in your life and what wasn't. You played the game _I_ chose without contesting the rules. You accepted _my_ gift of direction and knowledge and you used them. I told you Sarah, you had no chance to win, I have thought of _everything_." Sarah's hand uncurled again and the rest of her arm began twitching. The glow began to move faster up her arm. "And while doing such simple things without question will hardly allow me to take your mind, it gave me a foothold and _that's all I needed_. So go ahead, gloat, because as soon as that glow reaches that pretty little head of yours, you're mine." The glow reached Sarah's shoulder and it began to spasm.

Sarah forced every ounce of strength she had towards the force taking over her shoulder. She shook with the effort. Toby took her hand again, trying to let her use his strength to battle it but it was no use, the glow continued. It stopped just below her neck. On her other hand, a glow began to form on her fingertips. Fear, love, hate, hope, all her powerful emotions did nothing to stem the flow of gold. Sarah had come so close to winning and she was going to lose. There was could do nothing to stop it. So, just before the glow reached her throat, her step mother did it for her.

Almost in slow motion, Irene sprinted towards Jareth, past her husband and step daughter. Too quick for the Goblin King to react, she hauled back her fist and planted it with all her might right into Jareth's perfect face.

* * *

*AN*

Yeah…I KNOW, I KNOW! …I lied about this being the last chapter…;)whoops!

The next part just _really, really_ felt like it needed to be a separate chapter. But I promise the next chapter is for sure, most defiantly, the last one. I swear.

Blame the plotciraptors!

The part of my brain responsible for clever review asking is on vacation in Disney World(where I want to be!) right now soooo… Read if you'd like, Review if you wanna and as always…:-)!


	17. Chapter 16: The Power of Choice

Chapter 16 – The Power of Choice

Rubbing his nose, the Goblin King surveyed the rubble filled remains of his once beautiful throne room. The stone columns and windows had been shattered out in the first blast while the accompanying shock wave had caused a portion of the roof to cave in. That fool woman! She should have known there would be consequences for such an outrageous action! Punching him in the face like that! With a grimaced he realized that it was a first, he wasn't used to physical violence. He heard stone shift and noticed dust coming off from the corner pile of wreckage. A lone, thin figure emerged, tossing debris off itself and looking around. Sarah. She would have control of her limbs again, now that the punch had knocked his concentration on the spell off. That trick wouldn't work a second time and it had come so close too. For one, glorious, flash of an instant, he had felt her will weaken, convinced by parlor tricks and a glow that she had already lost. And although it had gotten close to making her realize how futile her efforts were, the time was past for tricks. Sarah would never give up and he didn't have any time left to get her to surrender. Already he could feel his magic over the humans weakening. She had beaten his test once again, locating them all. Bringing them all here. He'd rather stupidly allowed them to simply walk right in. He'd been too intent on deceiving Sarah in her dream and the following nightmare to really notice them. They were all physically within the castle an entire twenty minutes before the deadline. Unfortunately, he had lost that contest and his magic wouldn't let him try again. He had to keep the terms of the deal he made. What it all came down to was that unless he acted quickly, Sarah would be free. And he would never see her again. He strowed over to her, plan already forming. He had to be quick while the bothersome friends were still stunned.

Sarah looked up at him, eyes full of fear and yet unwavering, strong to the last, "Goblin King."

"I've decided something Sarah. Something very important for the both of us," the Goblin King said, looking down at her, "You see Sarah, you are right. I cannot take you or your memories since you did indeed come well within the time limit or unless you let me. But I have decided that neither of those matter anymore. You have pushed me too far!" He stepped closer and a wind kicked up, blowing the unsettled dust in the room around. The Goblin Kings cape billowed out behind him, Sarah found him truly terrifying for the first time. "I warned you, I gave you opportunities, I threatened you, I tried to trick you. Had you simply accepted your fate at the very beginning, I probably would have even sent your family back to your world. But no!" He took another step closer, Sarah felt like she wanted to run and hide. "You just had to be clever, you just had to be defiant! Right to the very end!" He stopped only a few inches from her, menace almost physically emanating from him. He leaned down and reached out, "Sarah, you were mine the instant you entered my realm. You don't _have_ to accept it anymore!" He grabbed her hand and the room around them disappeared.

* * *

Sarah heard music, the soft sound of a quartet of violins singing their soulful song. She could hear the soft steps of feet, pittering and pattering in sequence. So she wasn't alone where ever she was. She opened her eyes. It was a ballroom, spread before her like an endless, elegant arena. Countless couples danced smoothly to the unseen orchestra, moving in and out seamlessly. A brilliant chandelier hung over the red and gold floor, casting its light to flicker on the many silver columns.

"You look lovely."

She turned, feeling a familiar fabric swirl around her. Jareth looked very handsome as well, he was wearing the very same white ensemble he had the last time they'd fought a battle of wills. The one that always brought a blush to her cheeks. She looked down to find herself in the elegant silver dress she despised so much. She could feel that her hair was fixed into the intricate hairdo as well. With a firm shake of her head, it was replaced with her normal clothes, jeans and a t-shirt and her hair into a simple ponytail. She glared angrily at Jareth, "You don't decide what I wear."

"No," Jareth said softly, "I don't." He held out his hand. After a long moments hesitation, Sarah took it and they began to dance slowly. A waltz, she thought.

"What is it about you Sarah," Jareth asked quietly. " How is it that you can say no to me? I know of countless girls of all ages who would beg to be in your shoes right now."

"Then go fixate on one of them."

"But I can't Sarah," he twirled her around, "you fascinate me, you enthrall me. If I could have you, I would never want anything ever again."

"But I don't want you Jareth," Sarah maintained, "I've tried to get you to realize that."

Jareth paused for a second then continued the waltz, "But why? How could anyone else ever compare to me? Sarah, I could give you everything!"

Sarah was silent, working through her thoughts. Jareth watched her intently. The music picked up and the other couples on the floor swayed by without even noticing them.

"What is my favorite color Jareth?"

"I'm... sorry?"

"What is my favorite color? How about my favorite song? My dreams for the future? What do I want to be when I grow up? You know _nothing_ about me."

"But I want to," the King insisted, "I want to get to know you, I want to know everything about you!"

"Jareth, I want to go to college, have a job." Sarah was trying to stay calm. She knew the only way out of this was to get the King to understand and accept the reality of their relationship. That there wasn't one. "I have plans for my life Jareth and they don't include being kept down here by you."

"But you can have both! Say the word and I will rip open the walls between our worlds, you could easily travel between them both!"

Sarah shook her head, "You don't love me Jareth, I'm the first person who ever defeated you and was as strong as you. You don't understand me, you can't control me, you can't own me, that's what you love Jareth. Not me." She took a deep breath and continued, time to get this out of the way, "Besides, _I_ _don't love_ _you_. I never have and never will."

Jareth's face tightened, reddening darkly. He stopped their slow dance. "Is that your _final_ decision?"

Sarah nodded firmly without hesistation, "It always was."

"So be it."

Jareth and the ballroom around them burst into flames. Sarah leapt back, shielding her eyes. Sarah could feel the immense heat but it didn't burn her. When she finally felt it was safe, she lowered her arms. The ballroom itself was unchanged but the other dancing couples were gone. A faint, haunting, melody still echoed through the empty columns. Jareth, always the picture of perfection, once clothed in shining white, was now dressed head to toe in a black so dark, all light was swallowed by it. And he still looked strikingly handsome. Sarah felt her heart flutter involuntarily. Why did he have to be so good looking? This would be a lot easier if he looked like Hoggle.

"You look a bit flushed my dear," Jareth said. Sarah blushed angrily, of course he knew he was attractive.

"Don't you wish," she replied scathingly.

"I do," he whispered. "But since you cannot be tricked and you will not be threatened, I have decided to simply keep you here."

"…what? But you can't! I won, you _have_ to let us go!"

"I do not." He shrugged, "Well I do, but only if we were back in my realm bound by the laws of my magic. Here, in the emptiness of Neverground, in a void where matter itself is clay to me, outside and beyond those rules, I can do whatever I please. And we're going to stay here Sarah, dancing to the ghostly tune of my world. For all eternity."

Sarah looked at that faultless face and felt, to the deepest part of her soul, a chill. The eyes that looked at her with possession, the grin that seemed too crooked to be sane. This conversation was not going very well. "So…we're just going to sit here? Forever?"

"Oh no Sarah," he grabbed her hand again and tried to pull her along, "we're going to dance!"

Sarah pulled away roughly and started running. Jareth mocked her efforts, laughing in a distinctly chilling way, "There's nowhere else to run my dear! This world has no end, no beginning. No escape!"

_He's lost it_, Sarah thought as she ran, _he has_ finally_ lost it!_ The ballroom did indeed seem to have no end. There was no visible change in the scenery around her, everything seemed to repeat itself. She came up and ran past Jareth who was still grinning.

"Dance with me Sarah! Dance with me until time itself ends," he laughed, swaying himself as if to dance alone.

Sarah shivered but stopped running, it would be pointless to continue anyway. She watched Jareth carefully but she wasn't going to stop and give up just because he was seriously creeping her out, "Leave me alone."

"Never," Jareth exclaimed, eyes burning wildly.

She clenched her fists angry, furious, lived and pissed off. She could not believe the childness of this seemingly adult person in front of her. "You cannot own me Jareth!" She put a hand on her chest, grabbing the front of her shirt, "I am my own person! I am not something you can control! You just can't accept that I have my own decisions, that I can make my own choices, can you? That I don't have to love you! And you don't love me either!" She was practically screaming at him now, "Obsession is not love Goblin King! Love is selfless, obsession is selfish, love sets free, obsession owns. Do you see where I'm going with this Jareth? You've wasted over two years because of your selfishness! I am not immortal, Jareth, those are two years of _my life_ gone. Two years of wasted opportunities, of unrealized hopes and dreams! And I will never, _never_ get them back. So you'll have to excuse me if I think I have a right to say, leave me _alone_!"

Jareth took a step towards her, "Sarah…"

Sarah leapt back, snarling, "No!" She forced all of her resentment and anger into her next words, "I hate you! I! _Hate!_ You!"

This seemed to shock some part of Jareth, some part that was still in control. He looked at her and shook his head, "I…" He took a step back, "I..." He fell silent and turned.

She could just hear him muttering something softly. Sarah considered her options while he was distracted. This world around them, she didn't understand. If this were one of his globes, it would have had an end, some way to break out. She had enough experience with those. But this endless, repeating, world was a completely new place. She might very well be stuck this time and there was no way anybody could save her.

She felt something heavy in her pocket poking her leg. She reached down and pulled out a small, fake gold, locket. Her mother's locket. She smiled fondly, at least she had this. She opened the locket to look at the pictures of her mother and father only to find that the duel portraits were gone, replaced instead with a live picture of her friends and family. They seemed frantic, scouring the devastated throne room. Looking for her most likely. Their little figures were tossing the stones around, two she could easily tell were Irene and Hoggle, were fighting. She wished she could hear them.

"I'm not the one who punched the Goblin King," Hoggles voice roared out of the locket.

Sarah started. Had she just…

"Give me another chance Sarah," Jareth said, looking at her again. He wasn't pleading, he wasn't begging, he had lost the insane edge to his face. He was asking calmly, like a mature, understanding adult. "I have messed up," he admitted, "I have made many, horrible mistakes. And…I'm sorry." He hesitated, "You hate me. And you have good reasons to. I...I didn't know how to react to you. I didn't know how to...how to." He paused, "I didn't know how to say what I meant. I just...reacted like I always had. With persistence and trickery and force." He looked away from her, "I." He swallowed then tried again, "I don't know if I love you, Sarah." His eyes turned back to meet hers, they were burning again but this time their fire wasn't as terrifying. "But I would like the chance to find out." He held out his hand, as he had on countless occasions before, "Sarah Williams, would you give me that opportunity?"

Sarah paused, she knew the way out of this ballroom now and since this was the last she would ever see of Jareth, instead of just leaving, she sorted through her feelings then slowly but firmly shook her head. "In a perfect world I would be a good enough person that I could forgive you Jareth. But I can't and I won't. You've hurt me, Jareth. You've put me through some horrible things. You have threatened everything and everyone I love on multiple occasions. And... I'm not strong enough to let it go." Her shoulders straightened, "Maybe in a different life but not now and never in this one. Good bye." Sarah held her locket tightly and made a wish.

"Sarah! Sarah, _please_!"

Sarah looked at him, eyes hard and unforgiving, memories of all the terrible things she'd had to suffer because of this man roaring to the forefront of her mind. "In the end, it's _my choice too_ Jareth. I say no and you have to accept it this time because I'm leaving. And I am _never_ coming back. I'm going out into the world to live my life, to try and salvage what I can that's left of it." The tear in space from her locket grew larger, Jareth was silent and Sarah, for all her resentment, hatred and anger …_hesitated_.

As much as she had had enough of this place and him and as much as she resented every second she was forced to be here, a tiny thread of her heartstring still tugged at the unusual look on his face. The Goblin King, usually so smug and confident, looked forlorn and aimless, standing there, alone, watching her about to escape for the last time. But her heart quickly hardened again, he sealed his fate with her the instant he brought her family into this duel. She may feel sorry for him but she wasn't going to enslave herself out of pity. Cursing herself, Sarah walked over to him and gave him a quick hug. "Find yourself someone, Jareth," she said looking him straight in the eyes, making sure to hold them steady. "It is not me but out there, somewhere, there _is_ someone for you. Find her. Good bye."

Before he could say anything in response, she ran to the tear and leapt through.

* * *

Her family and friends cheered as she appeared one limb at a time out of thin air. A delighted round of hugs was shared. Even Hoggle seemed beside himself, actually hugging Ludo before realizing what he was doing and recovering his grumpy composure.

"Did you win," Toby asked eagerly once everyone had finished their joyous celebration, "can we go?"

"He never could keep us here, that was his greatest illusion," Sarah said. "We free to go the instant the time limit expired." She smiled, tears of joy and relief leaking through, "Let's go home."

"What about the others who will be punished by the King," Grimples asked, "You're actions will no doubt start another age of pain."

Sarah grinned, taking a look out the enormous hole in the wall, where the Labyrinth was easily visible, "We'll take all who want to come. It's the least I can do."

"But how," Toby asked, "We don't know how to get out of the Underground!"

Sarah pulled out her locket and opened it. The pictures of her parents were in there now. Her mother and father looked back at her there and, when she looked up, she saw her father and her…mother, looking at her as well. "The same way we got here. With a wish."

* * *

Sarah smelled the sea, the soft aroma of salt. Off in the distance, she could hear seagulls expressing their simply joy at being alive. She opened her eyes. It was the ocean, spread before her like an endless piece of glass, calm and beautiful. The moon was just beginning to set, its silvery light shimmering on the water below. A gentle breeze rushed past her, ruffling her hair. She was sitting in the sand on the edge of the beach, just inches away from the water line. It was night, the stars flickering brightly above her head. Ludo was lying a few feet away, he stirred. Without conscious thought but feeling as if the weight of the world had lifted off her, lighter than she had felt in years, Sarah rolled over on her back and laughed. Softly at first then her laughter began to build and expand, becoming louder and more energetic until she heard Ludo join in, gawffing with his loud expression of happiness. They continued on this way for a while and after they stopped, for the first time in so, _so_ many years, Sarah felt… peace.

* * *

*AN*

^_^ !

Well, this time it's for real.

The penultimate episode

The series/season finale

**aka… THE END**

Also, please note that this is not the last chapter. (Geeeeze I'm a consistent liar huh, but at least I am consistent!) Come on, isn't there always a stinger after the credits? But I'll go ahead and say my good-byes here.

I. Thank. You. All! It's. Been. A. Blast! Except when the plotciraptors were attacking, they

still scare me. I can't say how much I've enjoyed writing this story and interacting with you all. Thank you.

Short shout out to those stupendous, super heroic souls who speak out against silence:

Ana Shadow Wolf(Brave Author of the Shadows)

Artseblis(Characterization Guru)

Feline Ninja(lol Enthusiast) _/\_lol_(it's a shark and a swimming person!)

FireShifter(The Kindly Pyro)

Belle Sparrow(Wisher of Luck)

Chilalisnowbird(Wielder of the Keyboard of the Sun)

Edward-is-sexier-than-Mike(Genius of Few Words)

Geekgirlxo(called me a meanie…)

hazlgrnLizzy(Hazel Green Marvel)

Kingdomprincess(Her Royal Reviewerness)

Lady Wraith1(Hoper of More Soon)

marajade179(One of the Lovely Star Wars Name)

Ms Jareth(Married but Geniusical)

Nanenna(Commander of the Grammar Empire Army)

Norehnka(Complimenter of Stories)

Princess of the Fae(Knower of the Difference Between Goblins and Dwarfs)

Princesscupcakes(PC)(Not a Mac)

Rel(Enjoyer of _it_)

SarahSaphira88(Asker of More)

Shiva(Lover of _it_)

Skylinger(Smily Queen =0D )

Trixie09(Disliker of Caterpillers)

XZeePoisonousOneX(Brilliant+Ben&Jerry's(it needs to be done!) = Beth)

? (The anonymous one hit wonder)

* * *

Well….see ya!

Or not…either way :-)!


	18. Epilogue: Choice 1

The Stinger: Choice 1

"…No I will but I've got to go mom! …yeah Kenneth's here. …we're just going to the movies. …yes I'll be careful Irene. …I've really …but… yeah…love you too. _Bye_!" Sarah hung up the phone and waved to Kenneth through the window. He waved back motioning to her that he would wait in the car. She nodded and bolted past the mirror, glancing at her reflection quickly to make sure that her hair wasn't too terrible. She grimaced. Well, it would work anyway. She quickly jumped down the stairs and into the living room.

"Are you leaving my Lady?" Sir Didymus was sitting with Ambrosius in front of the television watching one of his favorite old shows on video.

Sarah nodded as she grabbed her purse and shoes, "Yeah, me and Kenneth are going to the movies."

"Oh! Which moving picture?"

"The musical one."

They heard a commotion in the kitchen and Ludo leaned around the corner wearing a flowery apron, "Dinner?"

Sarah shook her head, "No thanks Ludo. Kenneth's taking me to this new restaurant downtown."

Ludo looked so depressed that Sarah relented, "All right, wrap some up for me and I'll have it for lunch tomorrow between classes. I have at least two hours between History of Literature and Algebra, I'm sure I can find a microwave somewhere." Ludo grinned and went back into the kitchen where she could hear Toby and Hoggle arguing about how much spice to use. Actually she might want to rethink actually eating that if those two were involved in the cooking process.

At the door, she paused, glancing at the rows of framed pictures hanging next to the door. Her parents, holding hands, her and her brother making faces at the camera. The most recent addition was the smaller picture of her and her friends. The very one that had started this entire adventure. Two months ago. Had it really been that long? It sure didn't seem like it had been long since they appeared at the same places they'd vanished from. They had returned with far more than they left. Remembering something, she turned back to Sir Didymus, "Did they ever find a place for the wise man and his hat?"

Sir Didymus shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Your father and Grimples were going to quest for a respectable place but, unlike the rest of those we brought back, no one is very comfortable with them. I suspect it is his mouthy hat that makes trouble."

Sarah sighed, "Well I guess he can stay here until we can find him someplace."

Sir Didymus beamed, "I must admit that I am glad, the fellow has some glorious tales of ancient wizards and heroic battles!"

Sarah nodded and turned to leave when Sir Didymus spoke again this time hesitantly, "How can you be _sure_ my Lady? If you were ever in danger again…"

Sarah remembered the conversation they'd had the previous night with the entire group living in the house involved. How did they _know_ that Kenneth wasn't the Goblin King. Sarah had admitted that she couldn't be 100% sure but she wasn't going to let that man still ruin her life. She wasn't going to live suspicious of every boy who talked to her. "Because he's one of the ugliest, goofiest and yet most lovable guys I've ever met."

"And you do not believe the King would disguise himself this way?"

Sarah snorted, "The King? Debase himself to look anything less than perfect? No, he's not Kenneth." She shook herself and waved to Sir Didymus, "See you later!"

Outside she jerked the door to Kenneth's beloved old junker and hopped inside, "Ready Kenney!"

Kenneth grinned, lopsided and yet charming, "Always Sarah!"

* * *

Jareth sat the book down, it's sister books making a few nice sized piles around his throne. This was the third of these books he'd read today, these romance books. They did explain a lot about the world. Women liked heroes, liked the guy who saved the day, and looking back on his actions, he was as far from a hero as he could get. Interesting. After scanning the rest of the books he had 'borrowed' from a library Aboveground, he was seriously considering becoming a superhero. Or maybe he would slay a dragon, that always seemed to work. He wondered what Sarah was doing right now? No, he corrected, he was done with Sarah. She was right. And she was gone. There were plenty of fish in the sea and with the help of these books, he would find the one meant for him. Even if it took forever. Not long at all.

* * *

*AN*

Well, here's how it could have gone!

Yeah, I'm still a lying! **:D**! See, there are actually two epilogues since I simply couldn't decide which I liked!

Also, if you wouldn't mind, treat these epilogues like a kind of informal poll. Review on the one you prefer.

Thanks!


	19. Epilogue: Choice 2

The Stinger: Choice 2

"Sarah, your rides' here!"

"Coming Mom!" Sarah smiled at her reflection in the mirror surrounded by pictures of her and her friends. A copy of the picture that had started her last adventure sat in an honored place, framed beside it. She couldn't believe it had only been two months since that business with Jareth had ended. Forever. Since then she'd enrolled in college after passing her entrance exams. She just loved college. She was majoring in English with a hope to publish her adventures in the Underground. Kenneth was very supportive of that. Her reflection blushed. Kenneth was the first real boyfriend she'd had in years. He was a theater major at her college, he had an amazing, deep, voice and a flair for the dramatic. He was a bit on the eccentric side, Sarah first bumped into him while registering for classes. He had been trying to sign up for Advanced Quantum Mechanics but the advisor was, rightly, concerned that he couldn't handle it. He didn't seem to understand the concept of prerequisites and building up to the hard classes. He demanded that he be allowed to take the hardest classes offered. Sarah had been disgusted at him, acting like a spoiled child. But what caught her attention was when he took a deep breath, counted to ten and asked the advisor what he needed to do. Then he apologized to not only the advisor but everyone in line for holding them up. Sarah had been impressed by the humility he showed after that outburst. Sure, he struggled with his temper but he was actively trying to stop outbursts like that. It helped that he wasn't half bad looking either. Not that that was a major factor in their relationship or anything. He was actually kind of sweet once she got past her automatic assumptions of jerkiness that comes with good looking people. He was always asking her questions about herself, he really seemed to want to get to know her. That and he had the cutest way of talking, using slang from thirty years ago and then laughing when Sarah looked confused.

"Sarah, he's waiting!"

"Sorry!" Sarah pushed a brush through her hair one last time and turned to her friends, "Look good?"

Hoggle looked up from his sandwich, "No."

"Thanks Hoggle," Sarah said dryly. "Well I'm gone for the evening, please remind the others when they get back. I don't want they trying to 'rescue' me again. Poor Kenneth still has a headache." The rest of her friends from the Labyrinth were out trying to find homes for the twenty or so displaced goblins or goblin-like folks Sarah had brought back with them. It wasn't easy since most of them didn't want to be lawn gnomes.

Hoggle waved at her, "Yeah, yeah. I can't promise anything. You know how Ludo and the dog gets when you leave."

"Oh let her go," Grimples muttered from the corner where he was reading, "I'll make sure the kids play nice."

Sarah smiled at him, "I knew we brought you back for some reason. See Hoggle, this is how a guest _should_ behave."

Grimples flashed Hoggle a smug grin. Hoggle stuck his tongue out at him. Sarah laughed at the barely hidden animosity between the two, "Well, good night guys."

"Have a good evening Sarah," Toby called as she sprinted down the stairs and out the door.

"Thanks!"

She leapt into Kenneth's silver convertible with a grin, "Ready Kenny?"

The handsome blond smiled warmly, bright eyes sparkling, "Always, Sarah."

As they sped off into the night, a pair of white feathers flew off the back of the car and drifted away on the breeze. But no one saw them and so the adventure continued.

* * *

*AN*

Yeah, he got the girl in the end. And notice, if you'll remember Terms(Chapter 2), he never did get around to promising to leave her alone. Tricky Goblin King, tricky.

And I just wanted to thank you, you personally, for sticking around through this. There have been highs and lows. I've been snarky and smug, clever and cliché. But you, you've always been wonderful. *applause*

Well nothing left to say but review if you feel like this one,(if not, go back to the other one!) but always…smile and have a lovely, wonderful, beautiful day!

Adios', arrivederci, farewell.


End file.
